


Inquisitor

by puddlejumper38



Category: Mistborn - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:01:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27323155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puddlejumper38/pseuds/puddlejumper38
Summary: Marsh's journey from the end of The Final Empire to the end of Well of Ascension.*contains spoilers for all three books in the original Mistborn trilogy*
Comments: 22
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This aims to fill in the gaps in Marsh's story for Well of Ascension. There's a couple of small references to my other work, The Steel Ministry, but this will still make sense if you haven't read it.

For the first time in a thousand years a new monarch ruled in Luthadel.

The meeting announcing Elend Venture as the new king of Luthadel had been quite short, really. The details of his reign were a long way from confirmed. Elend had more or less been assuring people that there _was_ a new structure in place.

The obligators had not been happy.

Of course, that attitude had varied between utter disbelief that the Lord Ruler was truly gone, and complete disdain that a nobleman sought to take his place. With a certain amount of reluctance, Marsh had immediately changed his own plans. He _had_ thought to set up an office in Keep Venture, where everyone else was. Now… he would be in the Canton of Inquisition. Where he could keep a closer eye on things.

Marsh stared around his new office. Like everything now, the Canton building looked different than he remembered. Perhaps one day, hopefully soon, he would adjust to this new sight.

Regardless, he had work to do.

Yet Marsh simply sat and stared. He should address the obligators. He should do _something_.

Kelsier was dead. The Luthadel Inquisitors were dead at Marsh’s own hand. The Lord Ruler was, incredibly, dead. Even with Sazed’s explanation of the supposed God’s long life and power… how could he have died? Or been killed. Exactly how Vin had managed that, Marsh knew intellectually, but… He’d felt the power of the Lord Ruler’s allomancy. Been thrown across the room by him. Vin was a powerful Allomancer, certainly, but not like that and… she was young, inexperienced and barely five feet tall. And had achieved the impossible.

Pulling bracelets out that pierced his arms _should_ have been impossible. Even once she’d guessed his secret, she and Marsh still should have died in that room. Instead the Lord Ruler – Rashek – was dead.

_Perhaps it is not just the obligators who have yet to adjust._

Marsh shook his head. _I have work to do. And a lot of it, if I’m to make this work_.

He stood, striding straight from the office again. It had been set up for him like he’d demanded, that was the important part. If they’d refused… But they hadn’t. Now he needed to find out if the rest of his hasty instructions had been carried out. He –

‘Inquisitor Marsh!’

He recognised that voice. It was, undoubtedly, his new king. Marsh turned to find Elend Venture, flanked by guards at least, walking hurriedly through the halls of the Canton of Inquisition. Not, all things considered, the safest move at this point.

Marsh stopped and waited until Elend got close. Then, noting the few obligators watching, he bowed. Slowly, deliberately, and respectfully.

‘Oh. Uh…’ said Elend Venture, monarch of Luthadel. Then he lowered his voice. ‘Do I bow back, do you think? I admit I’m not sure of the - ’

‘You don’t bow,’ Marsh said, matching his volume, ‘to anyone. Particularly not in the Steel Ministry.’

‘Oh, good. I never was much for all the bowing to obligators,’ Elend said brightly. ‘Uh, can we talk in private?’

‘Certainly, my lord,’ Marsh said, keeping his wince inward. It wasn’t that he wasn’t pleased their new king had at least a little humility. It was just that some… presence might have been better for their king. Particularly here.

‘Figuring out titles and the such,’ Elend said immediately after his guard closed the door, ‘is one of the first things I’m trying to figure out. How _do_ I address you?’

‘Inquisitor Marsh for formal settings.’ Marsh sat down. He doubted _your grace_ would be appropriate from a king. ‘Just Marsh will do in private.’

‘And I noticed you dropped the ‘my lord’ in private,’ Elend said thoughtfully.

Marsh stared at him. ‘Would you rather I didn’t?’

‘Oh no, it’s fine. I mean… I don’t mind.’ Elend sat down opposite him, leaning forward. ‘I brought this with me. I thought, as a major player in the city, you might want the chance to have a say on my new government. I’m calling it the Assembly.’

_So he’s not insisting on titles._ Good, bad, or unimportant, Marsh simply didn’t know. It would be a bad idea within the Ministry, but perhaps not with nobles.

‘The Assembly.’ Marsh took the paper, a little warily. He skimmed through what was obviously a draft of the plans and ideas for the base legislation. Such things that no one in the Final Empire had ever seen.

‘That’s a copy,’ Elend said. ‘I’ve given one to all of my advisors. If you have any ideas – ‘

‘I’ll be certain to tell you,’ Marsh said, still reading. ‘You should approach Sazed to be an advisor.’

Elend was nodding. ‘Oh I have, and he said he’ll definitely help. The wealth of information he has! Well, it’ll definitely help add to the research I’ve already done.’

‘Yes. I – ‘ Marsh cut off and carefully read the paragraph he’d been skimming through again. ‘Two thirds of this Assembly will be skaa.’

‘I thought it really had to be,’ Elend said, looking a little nervous for the first time. ‘I know they’re not used to power, but they _do_ make up at least that percentage of the population and I thought… well, I thought it might balance things out a bit. Since the nobles are used to playing politics. Is it… Do you think it’s a problem?’

‘It is the opposite of a problem, Elend Venture.’ Marsh touched the paper lightly, to assure himself it was real. He added quietly; ‘I… I’m not certain I will truly believe it until I’ve seen it.’

_And perhaps not even then._

The office stayed silent, so Marsh looked up to find Elend staring at him with his mouth very slightly open.

Marsh raised his eyebrows. ‘Perhaps you haven’t been told. I used to run the skaa rebellion.’

‘ _You_ did? But I thought… I assumed a _skaa_ would run…?’

‘Yes, Lord Venture.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ Elend needed to learn to hide his dumbfounded expression. ‘I didn’t know.’

‘You never noticed Vin was skaa. Well, the Ministry never noticed they were promoting a skaa Misting. The doctrine regarding skaa will be the first thing to go. With immediate effect.’

‘I was going to bring that up with you…’ Elend still looked dumbfounded.

Marsh read through the paragraph again and on through the rest of the page. Skaa. In an elected ruling Assembly.

Elend cleared his throat. ‘Listen, Inquisitor Marsh –‘

‘Marsh.’

‘Marsh. I also wanted to say how much I appreciated your support at the meeting.’

‘You’re welcome. Luthadel must not slip into chaos.’

Elend frowned just a little. ‘And that means the Steel Ministry will follow me?’

‘I’ll see that they do,’ Marsh said, wondering what else was there, lurking behind that sentence. There was something; that was clear.

_You’re a king, now. Spit it out. Whatever it is._

Clearly, Elend didn’t take after his father. But Marsh had already known that from examining the Ministry’s files on him. If the younger Venture had been the same he _wouldn’t_ have endorsed him. But then, neither would Vin.

‘I thought… the Ministry would want to hang on to control.’

‘They do. It’s going to be a fair amount of work to scale down their influence.’

‘Well, yes. Uh…’

Marsh sighed inwardly. ‘Lord Venture, whatever it is you want to say, do it bluntly. I do have other things to be doing.’

_And so do you._ Perhaps he shouldn’t be lecturing the king, however. And honestly, he needed this opportunity. What _was_ Elend Venture like? Marsh would like his own opinion. Just so long as the conversation they had was also productive. And so far… it was promising.

He was one of the few people Marsh had spoken to recently who had not cringed, flinched, or otherwise kept a healthy distance from Marsh.

_Yes. This_ is _the boy who was brought up by Straff Venture and yet has managed to establish his own values and beliefs._

He would not be easily cowed. A good quality, in a king.

Elend hesitated a second longer. ‘I thought you might want the leadership yourself. I’ve been talking to Vin and, well, obviously you’re head of the Steel Ministry. _But_ she said you were the survivor’s brother! Between the two things, I thought you’d be able to get all the support you needed.’

Marsh cocked his head to the side. ‘Are you trying to _offer_ me the position?’

‘No!’ Elend flushed. ‘I mean, well, no, I’m not. It’s just… if you want it, I thought better to know now and maybe we could work out a compromise.’

‘Rather than letting it fester and destroy our government.’

‘Yes, exactly!’ Elend looked relieved.

Time to make his true feelings known, then. And see how Elend Venture reacted. The man who would be king. The nobleman who had already proposed to give skaa power, without Marsh prompting him.

Marsh leaned forward. ‘I do not want the leadership. I _cannot_ have the leadership. The Ministry _must not_ be in control of Luthadel. If I could, I would tear it down entirely. We may need it, but this revolution _must_ be independent from it wherever possible.

‘Lord Venture, we have overthrown the Final Empire. The _Lord Ruler_ is dead. I am _not_ interested in causing more petty squabbles and pointless competitions. I’m here to make this work. So long as you don’t ignore the interests of the skaa, I will do everything in my power to support your government.’

Elend looked speechless _again_ so Marsh continued; ‘Any conflicts we have _must_ be resolved privately. If I have a problem with anything you do, I will bring it to you personally. I ask that you do the same with regards to the Steel Ministry. I understand it was you who prevented the rebellion from descending into slaughter?’

‘Yes, I’ve read about all of it,’ Elend said. ‘I knew if I left it… It might never have stopped. The nobles were trying to surrender and I _knew_ we could work together. I know your brother didn’t like noblemen but – ‘

‘I was thanking you, Elend Venture. Not criticising.’

‘Oh, uh… You’re welcome, then.’ Elend shifted in his chair. ‘And thank you for your time. I guess I’ll be seeing you quite regularly.’ He stood up.

Marsh held up a hand. ‘One more thing.’

‘Uh, yes?’

‘The Ministry is currently – and inevitably – undergoing huge changes. It’s always had factions and rivalry and none want to lose power. They can all see that they will. Regardless of what I do I can’t prevent that. I don’t want to. There will be groups who believe the Ministry _should_ be in charge. There are those who will resent you. And there will be those who resent me. It’ll take time before I know who they are and what steps they’re likely to take. Months, perhaps longer. In the meantime I would suggest you avoid entering Ministry buildings where possible.’

‘Really? You think the _Ministry_ might have me assassinated?’ Elend looked worried by that, and so he should.

‘In particular, avoid the Canton of Orthodoxy. This Canton will be slightly easier to appease as they’re now officially in charge. Orthodoxy have lost that. Remember that.’

Elend nodded. ‘I will.’

_Oh right. That’s not all_. If he’d had warning of Elend coming, perhaps he could have come up with a longer list of things he needed to discuss with the new king. Now that would have to wait.

Marsh rubbed a hand over his face, accidentally knocked one of the spikes, and gritted his teeth. ‘Representatives of the Ministry may try and come to you directly. Grant them nothing you haven’t already discussed with me.’

‘Okay, got it.’ Elend paused. ‘What should I do if I want to talk to you? Is it safe to come in here?’

‘Probably. But don’t.’ Marsh sat back. ‘Have someone send for me and I will come. It is _far_ better that I go to you.’

Elend nodded slowly. ‘That does make sense. Thank you… Marsh. Um… Will you keep me up to date with how the Ministry’s taking everything?’

‘Of course.’

Elend nodded again, and left.

Marsh stared thoughtfully after him. They could certainly do worse, for a king. Time would tell whether Elend had the skills to actually rule, but… he was not a bad option. He could sit and talk to an Inquisitor without flinching. He had more than just sympathy for the skaa; he had intent to change things. He also was able to see potential for conflicts.

And he’d had the sense to come to Marsh with his concerns. Good. This opportunity they had… It must be protected. Elend Venture seemed to understand that.


	2. Chapter 2

The obvious next step – now that Marsh had asserted that he _would_ be taking control of the Ministry – would be to enforce that. In other words, to act as a leader and to _appear_ as the leader. A meeting of the Prelans was past due. He should have done it already. Only he’d needed some time to scope out his new position. Marsh stalked through Keep Venture, searching out –

‘Breeze,’ Marsh said.

The Soother turned, saw him, and stumbled backwards with a quiet yelp.

Marsh waited as Breeze regained some balance. ‘I need your help.’

‘My help?’ He took a step backwards. ‘Well, I’d love to, but I’m very busy. Keeping our dear supporters on side is quite the work.’

Marsh gritted his teeth. ‘Yes. So is the Ministry. Which is why I need you.’

‘I really don’t think I could help with the Ministry.’

‘You can.’ The day had been frustrating, long, and Marsh’s spikes were aching worse than usual. He didn’t have time for this. ‘I’m gathering the prelans tomorrow morning. I’ll be explaining how the Ministry will be moving forward and it’s important that they’re… agreeable.’

Breeze backed off a little further. ‘Oh no, I can’t Soothe obligators. They’re trained.’

‘I _know_ they’re trained.’ Marsh had had some of the training himself. But not much, as he had his bronze to help. ‘That’s why I’m asking you. You’re subtle enough for this to work. If _I_ attempt it, they’ll know immediately and I don’t _want_ them noticing.’

‘But you – ‘ Breeze grimaced. ‘I thought you were a Seeker.’

‘Mistborn now,’ Marsh said, although _Inquisitor now_ was far more accurate. ‘But I’ve had little time to learn brass. You see?’

No doubt Breeze _did_ see and simply wanted nothing to do with the Ministry. That was fair enough. Perhaps he should leave the Soother alone. Perhaps Breeze had enough to –

Marsh frowned and burnt bronze. Yes. Brass. The pulses clearly originating from Breeze. Typical, from his admittedly limited experience of the man. He should have expected it.

‘However,’ Marsh growled, ‘I’ve had many years to learn bronze.’

‘Ah… Sorry?’

‘No, you’re not. It doesn’t matter. If you don’t stop it, I’ll simply burn copper.’

Breeze, now a little pale, nodded but didn’t extinguish his brass.

Well. There were other ways to make his point. Marsh burnt copper and reached for the other unfamiliar sources of power. He burnt both brass and zinc. He Soothed Breeze’s fear, hard. Soothed any misgivings right down into nothing, flaring the brass. No subtlety – not even an attempt. Then he Rioted obedience and anything he thought might be related.

Breeze rocked like he’d been slapped. ‘Oh. No. You can’t very well do that to the obligators, can you?’

‘Not in this case.’

‘Do you think you could maybe... ease off?’

Marsh extinguished both zinc and brass. Breeze winced again.

‘Anyway,’ Marsh said, ‘I’ll need you Kredik Shaw tomorrow morning. I’ll meet you there long before the obligators arrive. I want you in position and out of sight.’

What little colour was left in the Soother’s face drained out. ‘Kredik Shaw?’

‘It’s where the Ministry have held important events before. It’s likely the best place.’

‘Yes, but – ‘

‘Kredik Shaw,’ Marsh said. ‘Tomorrow morning. I’ll see you there.’

_______________________

Breeze was, in fact, outside Kredik Shaw when Marsh arrived, but so was Ham.

Marsh stopped next to them. ‘I don’t need a Thug.’

‘Oh but I do,’ Breeze said. ‘Ham’s here to make sure I got safely here. There have been riots on the street my good… er… man.’

Ham smiled.

Marsh gritted his teeth. ‘Fine. But you’ll have to stay out of sight too.’

‘Can I burn pewter?’ Ham asked. ‘Or will they notice?’

‘Burn it if you want. I’ll be Smoking us.’ Marsh strode past them and into Kredik Shaw. Ham wouldn’t need pewter within the place, but it was unlikely he’d accept that. No one could have missed the way Breeze flinched as he passed. Ham was not there as a bodyguard from general unrest.

And neither of them were following him. Marsh turned and stared at them. Breeze was huddling a little, which was very different from Marsh’s earlier impressions of the Soother.

‘The meeting will be _within_ Kredik Shaw,’ Marsh said.

‘And the obligators aren’t in there yet, right?’ asked Ham.

Marsh sighed. ‘No one is in here. I can personally vouch that there are no Inquisitors left in the city.’

‘I think you count as an Inquisitor, Marsh,’ said Ham, unnecessarily.

‘The meeting will be in one of the lesser towers.’ Marsh turned his back on them and walked further into Kredik Shaw. ‘I will show you the room you’ll watch from.’

Sounds of a brief scuffle behind him suggested one of the two had still been reluctant to follow, but soon Marsh could hear their footsteps behind him. Several paces behind him.

Marsh took the shortest path possible to the room he’d picked out for Breeze. And Ham, apparently. He _had_ intended to show Breeze into the meeting room he was using first. However, that no longer seemed like a good idea. Best to get them in place quickly.

He gestured to the far wall. ‘You will be able to see the obligators through there. The ornate patterns are actually small gaps in the wall.’

The purpose, as far as Marsh had been able to guess, was for the Inquisitors to be able to watch the obligators. Undoubtedly the room was another that was used for the Steel Ministry prayer ceremonies. It’d serve just fine as an assembly room for the prelans.

Ham and Breeze came past him into the room, keeping an exaggerated distance between them and him.

Marsh ground his teeth. Disliking Kredik Shaw was one thing. Fear of Inquisitors fit into the same category – it was only natural when you’d spent your life worrying about ending up with a hook through your throat. However, they seemed to have forgotten that _he_ had lived with that same fear.

‘I will address all the prelans,’ Marsh told them. ‘Then I will dismiss most of them and speak to those of the Canton of Inquisition. You may leave at that point if you wish. I don’t see Inquisition being a problem.’

‘Really?’ Ham frowned. ‘I thought they’d be the hardest.’

Marsh shook his head. ‘I should be able to convince them that they’ve gained nearly as much power as they’ve lost. Orthodoxy will be the hardest. Breeze, you’ll need to focus on those prelans.’

Breeze simply nodded and Marsh headed back towards his chosen meeting room. He’d wait until the prelans had all assembled before he appeared. The entranceway into the front of the room appeared to facilitate just that. Marsh had suspected as much. Inquisitors had always liked to make an entrance. And since he was attempting to reinforce that idea that the Steel Ministry would remain… well, it was best to keep to traditions.

He _must_ keep control.

The Steel Ministry… it was a massive threat to Elend’s rule. And this new government was everything. Marsh had fought for this for most of his life, working to bring an end to the Final Empire. Now it had happened in his lifetime.

_I_ will _make sure this is successful._

The position he had was beyond anything he could have expected. He had power over the entire Steel Ministry. _If_ he could keep control of the obligators.

A hard enough task. There were enough rumours swirling about him. Many of which were also fact.

He watched the prelans arrive. Interestingly, prelans from the Canton of Resource were first. Followed by Inquisition, Finance, and finally Orthodoxy.

These prelans would be the key. Marsh had invited all of them. The High Prelans had been a certainty, but he’d invited the lower level prelans as well. These obligators were not only in high positions in each Canton, but they were established there. Marsh… had only had days as an Inquisitor before the Lord Ruler’s death. And Inquisitors had only just taken control from the Lord Prelan. These obligators had to support him, or he would get nowhere.

But they should. The Steel Ministry was a web of rivalry’s and tensions, but it worked. It ran smoothly and efficiently. And that was because it maintained a strict hierarchy of power. Inquisitors had always been near the top.

With all the changes going on around them, Marsh was willing to bet the obligators would cling to the structure. It was all the stability they had left.

The fear of Inquisitors would, of course, help.

Marsh strode out to the front of the room. The quite murmurings between prelans stopped immediately.

_A good start_.

‘The Lord Ruler is dead,’ Marsh said flatly. ‘I can personally confirm this. He will not return. This is the future we move in to.’

They looked nervous. All of them. But Marsh had thought about this. He _must_ stress that the Steel Ministry would remain, and mostly in its current structure. Even if it set his teeth on edge.

‘A new government had been created and we have endorsed it.’ Marsh eyed the High Prelans. They’d been at the announcement, but he hadn’t discussed it with them beforehand. ‘We will continue to perform our duties as our new king requires.’

_That_ provoked some shifting and muttering. But Marsh wasn’t there for a discussion. Inquisitors did not ask permission. Dictating terms would allow him to seize power rather than wait and see if they’d give it to him. He couldn’t afford for them to refuse.

‘Each of you will provide details of the state of your Cantons. Undoubtedly we will have been reduced by the fighting. I want numbers. Tomorrow. Particularly I want to know our Misting numbers. Any delays must be reported directly to me.’

He paused. _Now to reinforce that the Ministry shall continue. ‘_ I want to know how many obligators still reside in noble houses. Find them, but leave them in place. We will need their information more than ever. Many noble houses have been severely reduced in the unrest. If minor nobles now wish to join… take note of that. Promise nothing. We have structures in place that will assess them.’

_If needed we can recruit such people. And they may also not be as committed to the Ministry’s doctrines. That will bode well for the future._

Now for the difficult part…

‘There will be changes. A list of changes to Ministry doctrines will be released by the end of the week. Some Cantons will fare better than others.’ Marsh turned to the High Prelans of Orthodoxy. ‘Orthodoxy will remain the same size. We must keep this city stable if we wish to avoid anarchy. You will be exceptionally busy processing the impacts from the house war and rebellion. Gather all the details. They will be necessary.’

The High Prelan nodded. A stiff movement, yet agreement nevertheless.

_Good. He feels important. That should fix some of the bruised ego. I hope Breeze is helping with that._ He burnt bronze and could feel Breeze’s touch through the room.

‘Inquisition will continue to enforce the law. Focus on the nobility. The rules regarding the skaa will be undergoing extreme changes. The nobles _will_ obey these. I must have information from other cities. Inquisition will also handle the bulk of this.’ Marsh surveyed the prelans. ‘King Venture’s government will, however, want a certain amount of control over finances and trade. I will be reviewing both Cantons. He will undoubtedly want information on your usefulness. Bring me that information.’

_And_ that _should inflame some rivalries. They’re used to that. It will feel familiar._

It would also make both Cantons resentful and partially at Elend Venture. No way to avoid that and far better to cement the idea of their new King’s authority.

The worst out of the way, Marsh detailed the immediate work he wanted done, and dismissed three of the Cantons. Not all of the obligators looked happy with the meeting, but that was inevitable. The extent of the problem would undoubtedly reveal itself in time.

Marsh waited until only the Canton of Inquisition remained. His Canton. He regarded them for a moment.

‘You will no longer hunt skaa. You will no longer search for skaa Allomancers. Your concern, effective immediately, is potential threats to the new government. Is that clear?’

Uncertain nods answered him.

‘In addition Terrismen will no longer be hunted. The breeding programs will stop. Also effective immediately.’ Marsh stared at the confused faces. Elend had already stressed this particular change, but it must also be heard from Marsh.

The High Prelan cleared his throat.

‘Yes?’ Marsh asked. This was his own Canton and he _had_ been trying to stress that, keeping them behind for a longer meeting was part of that. Hopefully taking questions at this stage shouldn’t be too risky.

‘Are we re-establishing the Soothing stations, my lord?’

‘No.’

‘It’s only that the population of the city may still be… volatile, my lord. But the Canton… we have lost a significant number of our Allomancers. Almost all of those who were manning the Soothing stations haven’t returned.’

‘Find me numbers. I want to know the extent of the problem.’ Marsh sighed inwardly. Those Soothers had been incredibly skilled. He could have used them. But the destruction of the stations had been organised by Kelsier; he hadn’t seriously expected many survivors. ‘Now, we were monitoring tensions among the nobility particularly closely leading up to the house war.’

‘Yes, my lord,’ said the High Prelan.

‘Work through our information. Find out the most likely to oppose King Venture. Use whatever obligators are still in position to boost our information. Right now, the city is under control. There is no longer the Lord Ruler to re-establish order if that changes. We must not have serious, organised attacks on the new government, or we risk the entire Ministry.’

Marsh paused again, surveyed the faces. Thankfully, there was very little detectable defiance here. Shock, though, yes. They’d recover from that eventually. ‘I will have a preliminary report from you tomorrow. You are dismissed.’

The prelans bowed and began to file out.

Marsh allowed himself a quiet, relieved, sigh.


	3. Chapter 3

The asked for reports were slow in coming.

Orthodoxy, to Marsh’s surprise, had responded first. Whether this meant he’d succeeded in reassuring them, or if they’d simply left out more, he simply didn’t know. Inquisition and Finance’s reports had come next. The Canton of Resource had provided a report several days late and largely incomplete.

Marsh grimaced. One of the many things he’d asked Resource for had been information on the atium – of which Vin and Elend had yet to find any trace. Resource appeared to have ignored this instruction entirely.

_Perhaps that was my mistake. Perhaps, due to its importance with the economy, this was part of Finance’s duties._

If it was, that would be a surprise. But Marsh would need to follow it up.

When he had the time.

_You must find the atium. Vin needs it._

For the moment he had his hands more than full trying to figure out how the Ministry functioned. Certainly, he knew the basics. The details, however, continued to elude him. If he wasn’t careful, the Canton’s would either turn on each other – or Elend – while he tried to figure it all out.

On top of that his new Allomancy had to be a consideration. He had to at least be competent in the basic metals. If the obligators saw him failing at what was considered to be fairly basic for an Inquisitor… he’d be in trouble. So far, there were only grumblings about his involvement in the overthrow of the Lord Ruler. They waited for something. Perhaps they waited until they knew more of Marsh, even as he tried to figure out more of them.

Perhaps the violent killing of the last Lord Prelan was still fresh in their minds.

The rebellion was over. _So why does this city still feel on a knife’s edge?_

The uncertainty, of course. So much uncertainty…

Which was why, despite everything, Marsh fought for a certain level of continuity. _Whoever thought I would be attempting to preserve the Steel Ministry?_ Yet if he didn’t, they would certainly try to preserve themselves. And perhaps take more drastic action.

A knock came at his door, then it opened. Hesitantly. Marsh recognised the obligator instantly as he bowed and entered. He shut the door behind him.

Eliar. The obligator whose job it had been to liaise with the Inquisitors. The obligator who’d certainly suspected why the Inquisitors were stalking Marsh.

Marsh scowled. ‘Yes?’

‘My lord, I…’ Eliar bowed a second time. ‘I thought you may want this.’

He placed a piece of paper on the desk in front of Marsh and stood back, hands clasped behind his back. Marsh stared the obligator down for a moment longer, then turned to the paper.

It was… a list. Of names, and details to go with them. More accurately, it appeared to be a list of Seekers within the Ministry, including their dispositions and factions they were part of. It started with the newest recruits. And it spanned all Cantons.

Marsh set it back down on the desk. ‘Why have you given me this?’

‘It’s always been part of my duties, my lord. To give such reports.’ Eliar paused. ‘And I assumed… with only you left of your order, you might want it. I compiled it as quickly as I could.’

A list. Of _Seekers_.

Marsh was on his feet without having thought about it. One hand pressed down on the desk, palm stinging from how he’d slammed it down. The other curled around his axe handle. Eliar cringed back, face ashen.

It would be so easy to take that one further step… But Marsh uncurled his hand from his axe. Eliar appeared to be one of the most loyal obligators.

‘You will not speak of this again.’

‘Of course, my lord. I’m sorry, my lord.’ Eliar backed out of the room, bowing all the way.

_More Inquisitors, junior to you, would help keep control._

In a way, that wasn’t entirely incorrect. Assuming they’d listen to him. But realistically, the last thing Luthadel needed was more Inquisitors. And to think that Eliar thought he, Marsh, would do such a thing… It was horrific. It was unthinkable. His spikes throbbed abominably.

Marsh cursed under his breath. He picked up the list, went to burn it, and paused. He should have a list of Mistings in the Ministry. Just not only Seekers. And _not_ for that purpose. _Never_ for that purpose.

He shoved the list into a drawer instead. Out of his inhuman sight.

_______________________

Marsh sat in the plush office of the High Prelan, hoping this would not go too poorly. A visit to Orthodoxy had been necessary, if a drain on Marsh’s ever precious time; the attitude of the High Prelan was quickly proving that. Yet Orthodoxy’s support would be vital.

The High Prelan scowled deeply. ‘There are rumours about you, my lord.’

‘Yes,’ Marsh agreed, but relatively mildly. He kept any hint of a challenge from his tone. Best not to appear defensive.

‘Many obligators look at the Venture boy’s – ‘

‘King Venture,’ Marsh corrected, still softly, only now with a hint of menace.

‘King… Venture,’ the obligator said, as if the words tasted of bile. ‘His Mistborn. She is small in stature and a half breed.’

‘Yes,’ Marsh agreed. ‘That is a fact. Not a rumour. And not about me.’

‘I have heard many suggest that she could not possibly have killed the Lord Ruler as she claims. However…’ The obligators mouth twisted. ‘Events do suggest he is dead. Therefore it has been suggested it was _you_ who committed the act. My lord.’

Marsh raised his eyebrows. ‘No. Vin did, in fact, kill the Lord Ruler. I was there; I witnessed it, but I did not kill him.’

_Despite my best efforts._

‘He had other Inquisitors, my lord! She is shorter than I am! I cannot believe –‘

‘I killed the Inquisitors,’ Marsh said. ‘She killed the Lord Ruler. By herself.’

The obligator stared at him. ‘There were… eight of them, my lord.’

‘And now there is me.’

‘I… see, my lord.’ The obligator clearly assumed Marsh had fought them all at once. He certainly wasn’t going to contradict that.

‘You will correct such rumours if you hear them again,’ Marsh ordered.

The obligator paused then leaned forward, a deep set fury in his eyes. ‘They’re not the only rumours. Others about you are… disturbing.’

_Finally._

‘Are they? Tell them to me.’

‘They _say_ that you were the Survivor’s brother. They say that you, as he was, are half skaa. They say you…’ The obligators hands clenched into fists. ‘They say you infiltrated the Steel Ministry, rose in our ranks, and then betrayed us all.’

Marsh nodded. ‘All correct.’

The obligator went white, but not, Marsh suspected, with fear. Rage seemed the more likely.

‘I assumed I had already said as much,’ Marsh continued, watching him carefully, ‘when I said I watched the Lord Ruler die.’

‘You,’ the obligator said in a low voice, ‘are a traitor half-breed.’

‘Yes,’ Marsh agreed again, and then he leaned forward. ‘I am also the last Inquisitor in Luthadel. By design, as I have said. I rule here. I will continue to rule here.’

‘You will not be accepted,’ the obligator said, meeting Marsh’s stare.

‘I won’t? By who? By you, perhaps?’

The obligator clenched his jaw. ‘You _betrayed_ us.’

‘I did. That was, of course, my intention all along. Your… _god_ failed to notice even as he promoted me.’ Marsh did not lean back. Staring someone down was quite easy now. He did not need to blink. ‘Change has come to Luthadel, obligator. Either you accept it, or you accept chaos. Order has been restored for now, but this city… it remains on the brink. So much change, so quickly, has the potential to bring the city down.’

‘I’ve heard all about Lord Venture’s speech,’ the obligator said stiffly.

‘Do you disagree?’

‘I believe a _better_ order could be restored. One without traitors. One with – ‘

‘Perhaps. Perhaps not. This, however, is that one we have. King Venture has been accepted by the other nobles – ‘ _mostly_ ‘ – and he has been accepted by the skaa. Including those who worked in the skaa underground and dislike nobles. I have accepted him on behalf on the Steel Ministry.’

‘But as a traitor you didn’t have that right!’

Marsh sat back, studying the man in front of him. One could not run the Canton of Orthodoxy without also being intelligent. The question, then, was whether he was practical.

‘Having already been accepted by the city, with an intended system in place, what do you imagine would happen if another group – with the numbers to do so effectively – were to oppose King Venture?’

‘I…’ the obligator paused. ‘I imagine they could restore a better order to the city?’

‘Do you really? Do you not think the city would descend into the exact killing ground King Venture prevented? Who would support who? The Steel Ministry, for example, is resented by enough nobles to have opposition from them. And the skaa who have been freed.’ Marsh held a hand out in a half shrug. ‘A clean coup? No.’

The obligator looked away. ‘People would accept the order they have always known. The skaa are easily led. That _is_ their purpose.’

‘Were that the case the Soothing stations the Ministry used would have been unnecessary. If _I_ were easily led, obligator, I would not be here. I can talk examples at you all day, if you wish to hear them.

But I do not believe that will change your position. What about enforcers? That would be Steel Inquisitors and I do not support a coup. Thugs, perhaps? But we have so few Mistings left. You do not have the might to force a coup, nor the support to set one up.’

The man scowled. ‘Elend Venture is not fit to rule.’

Marsh shrugged. ‘That remains to be seen. I ask you; who would you put in charge?’

‘The Steel Ministry, of course,’ the obligator said. ‘We know how to run a city.’

‘Roughly,’ Marsh said. ‘In stable circumstances. With a higher power guiding you. But allow me to be more specific; which obligator? I assume you would not want me.’

‘Which obligator, my lord?’ The High Prelan’s tone had turned wary.

_Ah. He is practical, and I’ve won._

‘Yes. Name one. Yourself, perhaps?’

‘I would not presume – ‘

_To put yourself forward after the last Lord Prelan was murdered by Inquisitors?_

‘No? Then perhaps someone from the Canton of Inquisition?’

The obligator pursed his lips. ‘Hardly. They do not have the experience, it is _not_ their field. Perhaps… an obligator from my own Canton. Chosen among the prelans, perhaps myself, but only if they willed it.’

‘You mean voted for? As the members of the Assembly are voted for?’ Marsh held up a hand as the obligator went to interrupt. ‘Nevertheless. Do you think the Canton of Inquisition would like that? Interesting. They appear reasonably happy that I am of their Canton. But perhaps you believe Resource would back you?’

The obligator frowned, went to speak, then shook his head. ‘You have made your point, my lord.’

‘Yes. I am the only clear choice for a leader in the Ministry. Attempting to choose another candidate could easily cause the Cantons to tear each other apart. Then, of course, you would still face the challenges of overthrowing King Venture’s established rule with bare support and no significant force.’

The High Prelan glared at Marsh. ‘You should have led the Ministry to take power immediately after the Lord Ruler fell.’

‘No,’ Marsh said. ‘But it would have been the only opportunity for such a move.’

The obligator’s eyes stayed resentful, but he nodded. ‘I don’t wish to see our city fall into chaos.’ He reached down and pulled out a file. ‘Here. It is the full report on the state of my Canton. The one I handed over before… was preliminary.’

‘Of course it was.’ Marsh took the file.

‘The Canton of Orthodoxy,’ the obligator said, ‘has always been a powerful Canton.’

Marsh nodded. ‘And it will remain so.’

He stood, the obligator stood too and, to Marsh’s surprise, he bowed.


	4. Chapter 4

So much for continuity, to promote stability and order.

Marsh stood outside the Canton of Finance, watching as the obligators filed out. All held boxes and scrolls of some variety. Most held expressions of anger. Probably, there were obligators here who he would never have their support again.

Yet Marsh had not done this lightly. He’d gone to Orthodoxy and Inquisition and made sure that this would not destroy all that he was building. He’d also gone to the Canton of Resource. That had been… less successful. But, there, Marsh had phrased everything as an order. They would never want to share their Canton building any more than Finance would want to vacate theirs.

Unfortunately, he’d had to make it clear – not too bluntly, but nevertheless – that it had not been his idea.

Elend’s new legislation was complete. Or, at least, a working version of it was.

There would be an Assembly. It would be made up of two-thirds skaa, and it needed an official building to operate. Elend had ruled out Kredik Shaw – much as he’d ruled it out for his own palace – and that left very few suitable buildings.

Marsh had actually agreed with him, despite the inevitable resentment.

Outside of the Ministry, Elend’s reasoning had been sound. A Canton building was undeniably a symbol of authority. That was something the new Assembly would sorely need. His idea to act quickly was also a good one; this way it would be part of the initial disturbances following the Lord Ruler’s death. Causing such a disruption as throwing an entire Canton out of their building would only be harder the longer they waited.

The parade of cloaked figures continued.

Some skaa, and even a few noblemen, had assembled to watch the odd sight. Marsh was tempted to go around and discourage them. As if the resentment among these obligators wasn’t bad enough already. And yet… the sight would surely encourage the skaa. It was such an obvious symbol of a change for the better.

Marsh turned and strode along past the river of cloaks, towards the Canton of Resource. Elend had provided guards along the route, unless anyone decided that this would be a good time to take out their (understandable) hatred out on the obligators.

Marsh was fairly certain he didn’t want them massacred.

He nodded to one guard, who flinched, hesitated, then bowed. Marsh gritted his teeth and moved onward. He was so _tired_. He’d spent half the night filling his goldmind and not sleeping. Once, he’d attempted to do both. It hadn’t worked.

The obligators appeared to be filing as planned into Resource. Marsh paused outside the building, shrugged inwardly, and headed for the Canton of Inquisition instead.

‘My lord!’ Eliar called, moving up to him the second Marsh set foot in the building.

‘I trust this is important?’ Marsh didn’t bother breaking his stride. Eliar was forced to hurry to keep up.

‘Absolutely, my lord.’

‘Can it be said in public?’ Marsh asked. _So I can shrug you off quicker and have lunch at a reasonable hour?_

‘Ah, no, my lord.’

_Of course not_.

Marsh led Eliar up to his office and motioned to the obligator to shut the door. ‘What is it?’

‘Obligators within Resource and Finance talk about ways to overthrow Elend Venture.’

‘Oh, really? How about in Orthodoxy?’

‘Uh…’ Eliar hesitated. ‘I… don’t know, my lord. Not that I’ve heard.’

‘Do they have any plans yet?’

‘Well…’ Eliar winced. He had elected not to sit and it made his leaning away from Marsh more obvious. ‘Yes, my lord. They first talk about… uh… well. There is a faction that would first like to eliminate you.’

‘I see. Have them come in here and attempt it.’

Eliar took a step back. ‘I’m sorry, my lord?’

Marsh sighed. ‘Keep me updated on the situation. I want names. And if they find firm allies, inform me immediately. And, as always, send copies of such vital reports to the palace.’

‘To… Kredik Shaw, my lord?’

_Must we keep doing this?_

‘To Keep Venture, obligator. The new palace. When I say the palace, that is what I am referring to. If I mean Kredik Shaw, then I will _say_ Kredik Shaw, is that clear?’

‘Yes, my lord.’

‘Good. Now get me those names.’

‘There was more news, my lord.’

‘Yes?’

‘Some obligators have left the city. And some… there’s still some who plan to go.’

‘If the numbers are not significant, let them go. Otherwise, update me. _Before_ anything happens.’

‘Yes, my lord.’

‘You are dismissed.’ Marsh watched Eliar back out the door. He would need to speak to Venni, and soon.

She was the other obligator who’d previously been assigned to pass information on to the Inquisitors. Marsh had kept her in that role, as he had Eliar. Eliar handled information coming from within the Ministry, Venni handled information outside of the Ministry and outside of the city.

If obligators were leaving, then Marsh needed to know they weren’t meeting up with a larger group. Such as an army. Not that they’d manage that quickly enough to seize power if the obligators _within_ Luthadel actually moved to overthrow Elend. Assassination attempts… well, Marsh already knew they planned those. He sent lists of possible attempts to Vin. Overthrows plans were different. It implied more organisation. A group _preparing_ to take control.

Marsh grimaced. So long as such plans remained only plans, that was fine. To be expected, really. If they spilled over into actions… he’d have to respond more firmly.

_______________________

Marsh stood on the outer wall, collecting himself, staring out into the mists. Well, he’d seen it done. And he knew how it worked in theory. He let the coin fall away, but not out of sight. Not with this new vision.

Marsh jumped off the wall.

Open air beneath him, mist around him – swirling determinedly away – and a blue line which was off at a disturbing angle. He had, Marsh realised, jumped too far out rather than simply down. He started to fall. Cursing, Marsh burnt iron and Pulled the anchor, lifting it then rapidly switching to steel and attempting to reposition it under him. Unsuccessfully. He shot off sideways, parallel to the wall.

The ground was rushing up, the wind tugging at his robes. Marsh fumbled at his belt and dropped a coin, Pushing on that – anything to slow his fall. His momentum carried him over that anchor too. Another coin helped a little, slowing him just a bit more. Too little too late. The ground rushed up and Marsh flared his pewter.

He hit left leg first and the pewter wasn’t enough. Something gave and he cried out, slamming into the ash covered ground and skidding to a stop on his back.

His leg was a starburst of pain, the spikes throbbed abominably, and the damn mists continued to swirl away from him, as if he’d done something to offend them.

Marsh groaned softly. He didn’t much feel like trying to sit up, just yet. He shifted his leg and bit back the scream. _That_ could well be broken. But he did have a remedy for it. Marsh hesitated, then tapped gold. Gradually the pain lessened.

Feruchemical gold. He had no right to it. But he had no right to the steel, iron, or pewter he’d been practising either.

He sighed, still dazed, but the pain was more bearable. He made no move to stand. This was why Allomancers practised together. He’d never so much as heard of Inquisitors practising, however. Presumably they taught each other. He hadn’t had the time to find out.

And then he’d… well, he’d killed them all in Luthadel. Leaving him alone like this, with no damned idea what he was doing. Marsh cursed and sat up.

He could hardly ask a regular Coinshot or Lurcher for help. And a noble Mistborn was completely out of the question. He _needed_ to appear invulnerable to maintain his power in the Steel Ministry. Really, there was only one option, but Vin was far too busy. And he wasn’t certain he wanted to reveal his feruchemical gold. That would raise too many questions about _how_ … questions he simply couldn’t bring himself to answer.

Some things were better buried with the Final Empire.

Marsh stumbled to his feet and Pulled his various metal anchors back to him. He’d have to be more cautious with his practise; he’d used up almost all of his stored health on that one fall.

But this couldn’t really wait. If he needed to fight like an Allomancer, then he needed to be competent at the very least. Pewter, steel and iron were his absolute priorities.

Perhaps he simply needed to get more skilled with using his feruchemical store as well. There was a trick to it, wasn’t there? Balancing how fast he healed depending on how much he had stored? He had no one to ask about how best to learn that, either. The very _idea_ of broaching the subject with Sazed…

Marsh shook his head, tossed down a coin again, and jumped.

_______________________

The next day went about as well as the Allomantic practise. The obligators did not like their new arrangements. Marsh had received a barrage of complaints, both by note and in person, varying from the direct to the obscure. They didn’t really care about how many desks Finance had been assigned. They simply wanted an excuse to file a complaint.

What was worse was that many complaints – notably from Resource – were instead sent to Orthodoxy.

Not Marsh. Not even Inquisition, although perhaps that was good. He was attempting not to favour them. It would be simpler, given that was where he worked, but it would not help. Perhaps he should not be working from there at all. Too many things to juggle…

He’d been glad to return to his rooms at Keep Venture. That situation would require attention of some variety, lest it spiral out of control. But so far Orthodoxy and Inquisition, overall, seemed relatively content with the way Marsh was managing them. He hadn’t thought he’d been doing such a bad job with Resource. And yet.

Something tapped at his window, then it slid open.

‘Marsh?’ Vin was perched on the edge of the windowsill.

Very much perched, in fact. She seemed to be getting twitchy about protecting Elend. Spending a lot of time out in the mists, burning a lot of a pewter. That last one Marsh was dead certain about. He kept his bronze on nearly as often, now he didn’t have to worry about ending up on a hook for it.

‘Yes?’ Marsh asked, setting aside his copy of the logbook Sazed had translated. The one that wasn’t the Lord Ruler’s. It raised some interesting questions about what would have happened if he’d actually been the one to assume the mantle of God. Nothing good, Marsh thought. The sort of power the Lord Ruler had had was good for no one. But perhaps less bad.

Sazed had given this copy to Marsh. Had sought him out to do so, which had been thoughtful of him. Marsh had been well into the Ministry by the time Sazed had translated it.

Vin shifted. ‘I wanted to ask you some more about bronze.’

_Bronze? Not the Ministry? Well, it makes a nice change._

‘Certainly, if you’ll actually come into the room.’ He gestured at a chair.

Vin nodded and came into the room. She, however, did not take the chair.

‘Have you been practising with it?’ Marsh asked. ‘I could teach you more if you have. Provided we both make time.’

‘Oh.’ Vin shook her head. ‘No, not about teaching me. Marsh, can Inquisitors pierce Copperclouds?’

_A Ministry question after all_. And not one he wanted to go into in detail. But he still should have mentioned it already. With no other Inquisitors in Luthadel it wasn’t a pressing issue, but it could quickly become one.

‘Yes.’

He certainly could sense Allomancy through Copperclouds. An ability he had because he was a Seeker _before_ they’d given him the corresponding spike. _That_ was the detail he had no intention of sharing with Vin. Or anyone.

Vin nodded, looking pleased. ‘It’s about strength, isn’t it? The Lord Ruler could do it with his Soothing and I found Shan by – ‘

‘ _You_ pierced a Coppercloud?’ Marsh asked, straightening in his chair.

‘To find Shan when she was attacking Elend,’ Vin confirmed. ‘But I managed to do it again with Kelsier. He _said_ it was unusual.’

‘It’s more than unusual, Vin.’ Marsh studied her. ‘Beyond the Inquisitors and the Lord Ruler, I’d have said it was impossible.’

_His strong Allomancy… I suspected it was because of Hemalurgy._

But it hadn’t been. In any case, Vin was correct. It _was_ down to strength of the Allomancer. This certainly said strange things about Vin, which was hardly news.

Vin shook her head. ‘I can do it. I’ll prove it. If you burn copper…’ She flushed. ‘Can you burn copper?’

‘You don’t have to prove it. I believe you. It’s certainly possible and you’re the strongest Allomancer I’ve ever seen.’ He paused. ‘Except the Lord Ruler, of course. Anyway, I don’t think you should shout it about.’

‘It gives me an edge.’ Vin paced around the back of the room.

‘It certainly does. It explains many of the Inquisitor attacks that we otherwise couldn’t figure out. If we’d known…’ Marsh shook his head. ‘Perhaps it should be known that Inquisitors can. But not you.’

Elend Venture had few enough advantages as it was. If Vin could keep this ability – surprising as it was – a secret then it could well be the edge she needed. Given that she _was_ a disturbingly powerful Allomancer.

‘I’ve told some people,’ Vin admitted, stopping her pacing near the window. The mists started to drift into the room. ‘But not many.’

Of course not many. She hadn’t survived so long as a skaa thief without instincts like that. Even with Allomancy giving her an edge.

The mists continued to swirl but… _away_ from Vin? Interesting. He’d assumed it was a product of being an Inquisitor. Perhaps worse than interesting, however. Something had been feeling… wrong, of late.

Vin hesitated. ‘You didn’t say if you could burn copper.’

_No, I didn’t._

Marsh sighed. ‘Yes. I can burn copper.’

_No doubt Breeze has been spreading rumours._

‘So you _are_ a Mistborn now!’

‘Of a sort. All Inquisitors are. You’ll need to remember that if any more decide to turn up. Don’t expect any of them to just be Mistings – they’re not.’

_But they may not all be able to pierce Copperclouds._ However, that thought could be safely kept to himself. She’d need to assume they all could, anyway.

Vin was definitely edging back towards the window, but she paused. ‘Do you think they’ll come here?’

_No._ Marsh was surprised by the certainty behind the thought. The other Inquisitors weren’t coming to Luthadel. Not any time soon. But… he had absolutely no basis for that certainty.

He frowned. ‘I hope not. Perhaps they’ll be too concerned about their current posts to bother us. Regardless, we should be prepared.’

Vin shivered, nodded, and launched herself out into the mists.


	5. Chapter 5

Marsh strode into the Venture keep, making his way towards the room Elend had made his office. A pair of alarmed guards barred his way.

‘I am an _ally_ of the king,’ Marsh said. ‘And I will see him.’

_And if you wished to stop me, you should have attempted it outside the building._

‘His majesty is not here at the moment,’ one guard said, voice shaking.

‘Then I will wait until he returns.’ Marsh stepped forward and the guards jumped out of his way as he entered the office.

‘Uh, we… we have a waiting room?’

Marsh turned to stare at him.

‘Or… here is fine.’ The guard backed out, closing the door behind him.

Elend arrived a half hour later. Marsh heard him coming through the urgent whispers in the hall. He stayed staring out the window as Elend entered.

‘Um. Hello, Marsh.’

‘You have been antagonising the obligators.’

‘Well, I… Not intentionally? What have they said?’

Marsh turned away from the window and faced his king. Dishevelled, as always. Possibly that was a problem. But, thankfully, not Marsh’s problem. ‘You told the nobles that they no longer need to go through the Ministry for official matters. Weddings and the like.’

‘Oh yes, that. I was going to tell you but then the Assembly had a meeting and I needed to attend and then, of course, I had to deal with what the Assembly had brought up and – ‘

‘Lord Venture, this was something I should have been told _before_ it was announced. The obligators are angry. They were not warned. They were not prepared.’

Elend clenched his hands into fists at his side, not an aggressive gesture, Marsh suspected, just a nervous one. ‘Well, yes, you’re right. But I hadn’t actually planned it. I was talking to a group of nobles and I _need_ their support and the Ministry was one of their complaints… I’m sorry, but it _was_ necessary. It’s not like the obligators liked me much before, right?’

‘Not particularly.’

‘Exactly. So no harm done.’

Marsh regarded him for a moment. ‘That’s not what I said.’

‘Oh. No, I suppose not.’ Elend still didn’t look overly concerned. ‘Look, Marsh, I’ve got so many factors vying for support; I’ve got to offend some of them. Sorry for not warning you though. I’ll try not to do it again.’

‘The Canton of Orthodoxy handles much of what you’ve just made optional,’ Marsh said. ‘They have been opposed to you from the start. Much of that has to do with losing power of the Ministry to Inquisition shortly before the Lord Ruler’s fall. Had that not happened _they_ would have authority over _me_. A nobleman in charge over them has incensed them further.

‘Through assigning them various important tasks, I have got them to follow me more or less consistency. Doing so, I’ve assigned them tasks that should have gone to the Canton of Resource. To mitigate this, I’ve tried to move some tasks from Finance to Resource. However, Finance have also lost their Canton building to the Assembly.’

‘Well, I know. We talked about – ‘

Marsh held up a hand and Elend went silent. ‘This has meant that Finance barely support me, let alone you. Hardly a major problem as the Canton _must_ eventually be removed. Yet the Canton of Resource is still smarting over what they’ve lost. I have their support, but it’s tense. That tension, Elend Venture, has partly come from buying the support of Orthodoxy.’

‘Yes, I understand that, but – ‘

‘It is Orthodoxy who you have just alienated.’ Marsh scowled. ‘I may be able to recover some of that support, since I was _not_ informed prior to your decision. You however… It will take months before they will willingly work with you again. Assuming they will at all. They also happen to be the most powerful Canton among the nobility, since plenty of factions _want_ to continue cooperating with them. I hope that’s clear, Lord Venture.’

‘Uh, yes. It sounds like a headache.’ Elend grimaced. ‘I did make it a little worse, didn’t I?’

‘Yes.’ Marsh leaned back against Elend’s desk. The king himself had yet to come more than a few paces into the room. ‘I understand the problem of competing factors perfectly. In the future, I’d prefer you handle yours _without_ upending mine.’

‘Right. Sorry.’

Marsh massaged his temples. A headache. Yes. If only it could have simply been the regular kind, but this sort of mess was intensely frustrating. And the spikes tended to react to such emotions by throbbing worse than usual.

Fortunately the ones in his body never caused quite the same amount of pain.

‘Um, listen, I don’t think I can reverse it,’ Elend said. ‘I absolutely should have warned you, but I can’t lose the support of those nobles. And, well, reversing it will make things worse than they were before.’

‘And it will make you appear indecisive,’ Marsh said. ‘Do not reverse it. It’s a change that needed to come eventually. Too early perhaps, but what’s done is done.’

‘Thank you,’ Elend said.

Marsh nodded. ‘I’ll handle it.’

_Just don’t do it again._

‘Oh, and Marsh, I hate to ask knowing I’ve just made things a little harder for you… but have the Ministry said anything else about the atium?’

Marsh paused. ‘No. I haven’t had the time to fully investigate.’

_The atium is important_. _You must find it._

‘Well, um… Vin doesn’t have much. If you wouldn’t mind…?’

‘I’ll make it a priority,’ Marsh said. _It will fit right in with the other hundred or so priorities I have._

_______________________

He did his best to handle the situation with Orthodoxy. Yet… the obligators were certainly pressing the point harder than necessary, and Marsh had precious little to promise them. Realistically… he made little progress.

He returned early to Keep Venture. The problems would not go anywhere, of course, but they wouldn’t get any better that day. Not if Marsh snapped and started shouting. Which had felt like a growing inevitability.

He sat down in his room and took out the logbook again. It was interesting, but he hadn’t had much time with it. Hopefully today it would function as a good distraction.

Marsh had barely been reading five minutes before someone knocked at his door.

_If this is Ministry related…_ But what else would it be?

‘Come in,’ Marsh said wearily.

Sazed ducked into the room. ‘You seem to be rarely here.’

Marsh frowned at him. _What could Sazed want with the Ministry?_

‘I’ve been busy. The obligators continue to argue, with me and each other, and anything else they can find. I fear it will only escalate, unless I can find a new angle to gain leverage on them.’

‘I thought as much. Elend has often mentioned his fears over the Ministry. They still have much power, I think.’

‘Entrenched power like that is not easily broken.’

‘No, and particularly not when mixed with belief and faith.’ Sazed smiled. ‘I was wondering if you would be willing to accept a different religion? I have one I believe would suit you.’

Marsh scowled. ‘I already have a religion, Sazed.’

‘One that does not suit you, however.’

‘Regardless, I have it. Far more of it than I ever wanted.’ Marsh looked at Sazed, who didn’t seem put off at all. ‘I do not want another. This one has done more than enough damage.’

‘Which is why, perhaps, you could do with one that is more… peaceful, I think.’

_Peaceful? That will be the day. The one time I attempted to be peaceful, it was because I had left the rebellion and given up._

‘No,’ Marsh said.

Sazed looked a little taken aback.

Marsh sighed. ‘In the unlikely event that the Steel Ministry is successfully shut down within my lifetime. When Elend Venture has ruled effectively and… _peacefully_ and there is a stable government in Luthadel. Under those conditions, Sazed, I will gladly listen to a religion. One that is not entrenched in any kind of rule, though.’

He nearly added; _And when the plants are green as Mare wanted_ , but held off. Sazed did not deserve such bitterness.

Sazed nodded thoughtfully. ‘Has it occurred to you that a religion would help you through your struggles?’

‘It has not so far.’ Marsh held up a hand to prevent further arguments. ‘I don’t want another religion.’

‘That is possibly fair.’ Sazed hesitated, then pointed to a chair. ‘May I sit?’

Marsh nodded warily.

Sazed pointed towards the logbook. ‘How do you find it?’

‘Interesting.’ Marsh allowed himself to relax a little. ‘Yet… odd. I have little time to study it. But it doesn’t explain much, really.’

‘It does add to the information we have pre-Ascension,’ Sazed said.

‘The little we do have.’ Marsh sighed. ‘And most of that is only still here because the Lord Ruler allowed it.’

‘Most, but not all.’ Sazed smiled.

And Marsh remembered who he was talking to. ‘Of course. Your copperminds. I would gladly hear of such information.’ He paused. ‘Frankly, Sazed, I wouldn’t mind listening _about_ your religions, either. So long as they are not aimed at me.’

Sazed nodded, smiling more. ‘That is a good compromise, I think. The difficulty, in such a case, is working out where to start.’

_______________________

Thankfully, with the amount of times he needed to go between the two, Keep Venture was not so far away from the Canton of Inquisition. All the Ministry buildings were far closer, fortunately, but the noble keeps were within a quick walk.

Marsh carried with him important information that, for the thousandth time, both Orthodoxy and Resource had neglected to include in their reports to the government.

The problem was less in Inquisition, if only because Marsh dealt with a lot of the information personally. It was one of the reasons he still kept his office in the building. The last thing he needed was the pattern repeating there.

It did mean occasionally taking duties and therefore power from the High Prelan of Inquisition. So far that particular issue had not flared into a problem.

Finance… was more awkward. Marsh had seized the opportunity of the move to the Canton of Resource headquarters to gather an exact a report as possible. Since then, he only really had to worry about ongoing information. Which there was less and less of as Dockson took on more of the Final Empire’s economical duties. Elend had to have access to money. And the Ministry simply wasn’t cooperative enough.

Needless to say, the Canton of Finance did not like Marsh.

Marsh entered Keep Luthadel – now the palace. He, like the obligators, did still frequently think of Kredik Shaw as the palace. Only he was fairly certain the obligators did it on purpose.

He went straight to the library that Dockson had made his own. Admittedly, Marsh had been avoiding spending too much time speaking with Dockson. Of all the people in Kelsier’s crew, Marsh had known Dockson the best – probably because he and Kell had always hung around each other. They’d been partners, regardless of the rest of the crew they worked with. Well. Dockson, Kell, and Mare. But Dockson and Kell had made an effective partnership, and largely because they held the same views about noblemen.

In essence; they’d known each other, Marsh had a certain amount of respect for him and also a certain amount of disapproval. He didn’t imagine his transformation would make having a conversation with Dockson any easier.

Dockson was in the library and he looked up as Marsh entered, then winced. ‘Oh. Hello, Marsh.’

_Hardly a promising start._

‘I’ve found more information from both Orthodoxy and Resource,’ Marsh said, before realising he hadn’t returned Dockson’s greeting. _Too late now_.

Dockson took the papers from him, avoiding looking at Marsh’s face. ‘Did they hold back much?’

‘Quite a lot, yes. There will be more.’ Marsh shrugged. ‘They’re quite resistant.’

Dockson sighed quietly and waved a hand to encompass his desk. ‘It’s really not helping, you know.’

‘That may well be the point.’ Marsh surveyed the library. Many shelves had empty spots; he suspected Elend Venture. ‘They do not like working with skaa.’

‘But _you’re_ skaa,’ Dockson said.

‘Mostly they decide to ignore that. However, I’m sure it’s part of the problem. Perhaps I should have said; they do not like working with skaa, they do not like working with me, and they do not like working with Elend Venture. It tends to add up.’

‘Shouldn’t they like that we put Elend in charge?’ Dockson asked. He wasn’t tensed, but he still did not look directly at Marsh.

‘No. They’re used to having authority over the nobles. The only way they would have been satisfied is if we’d put an obligator in charge. Of course, then they’d have argued over which Canton that obligator came from. Anyway, it was never going to happen.’

‘So it wouldn’t have made that much difference to them if we’d put a skaa in charge,’ muttered Dockson.

‘I doubt that.’ Marsh studied Dockson for a moment. ‘Elend Venture was the best choice.’

Dockson sat back, rubbing a hand over his face. ‘Really? You know, when I found out you were alive, I half expected you to refuse to back him.’

‘And you can imagine my disbelief when I heard you had.’

‘A nobleman, Marsh,’ Dockson said, scowling down at his papers. ‘What would Kelsier think?’

‘Much the same as you, I suspect. Only less tolerant, as always. We had no one with the skills or the experience to take the position. Elend is sympathetic to the skaa _and_ he has at least some of those skills. He _is_ the best choice, particularly if we want any stability in Luthadel.’

‘Oh, I know the arguments.’

_You just don’t like them_.

Dockson sat back, staring at the opposite wall. ‘But you wouldn’t have put Kell in charge either, would you?’

‘No. I wouldn’t.’ Marsh flinched inwardly. He didn’t want to have this conversation with anyone, let alone Dockson. It was pointless, anyway. He’d never had to face that problem. Which was fortunate; Marsh backing a nobleman over Kelsier may well have destroyed what little goodwill they’d had left between them.

Dockson turned to look at him full on. ‘He thought you were dead.’

‘I know.’ There could be no doubt that Kelsier had seen the aftermath of his transformation. ‘I’d intended to find a way to tell him.’

‘He found your note.’

‘Oh. That.’ Marsh winced. ‘Yes, I thought he had. I’d assumed I wouldn’t make the meeting.’

Which he hadn’t, in the end. Although that was a particular stroke of luck, really, because if Kelsier had been there when the Inquisitors had arrived… Marsh suppressed a shudder.

‘Look, Marsh…’ Dockson said. ‘I just thought you should know… He grieved for you.’

Marsh grimaced and looked away.

_And I grieve for him. Even as I know his presence here would make things harder._

_______________________

His clumsy attempts at travelling the city as a Mistborn were neither subtle, nor pleasant. Marsh had heard Mistborn refer to the wonderful freedom and power they felt out in the mists. Mostly, though, Marsh felt tired and annoyed.

He knew he was powerful now. The mists did not make him feel more so. And his allomancy was linked to anything but freedom.

Allomantic power was not helping the mess at the Steel Ministry. So far, he was refraining from using too much emotional Allomancy. He’d never liked it much.

The building below rushed up and he slowed his fall with a Push on a coin before landing.

Walking to the edge, Marsh stared out over Luthadel. The mists were out there; he couldn’t see them, but he could feel them in a way he couldn’t quite describe. They did not obscure the city for him. Fortunate, since he preferred not to burn tin. Less fortunately, they were _certainly_ not as welcoming as they used to be. Once, the mists _had_ felt comfortable to him. For most his life, in fact, he’d gone out when other skaa had refused. That comfort was gone.

It had been replaced with… what? Malevolence? From the mists? But yes. That was what it felt like.

Something was wrong with that, if only he had the time to investigate. Hopefully it would not turn out to be important.

His spikes throbbed.

Marsh sighed. _What a waste of time_.

He could have been sleeping. Or storing health. Or, possibly, finally chasing down information on atium as Elend had asked him to. Perhaps turning up in the middle of the night and going through Finance and Resources files would actually work.

But no. It was more likely to stir up more trouble. Marsh grimaced. The city looked absolutely no different in the dark. That was frustrating. Marsh had stayed awake late many nights simply because he had not noticed it had grown dark. At least tonight he was awake intentionally.

Then he felt something. An Allomantic pulse. Marsh flared the bronze that he’d been burning and felt it more keenly. Someone was burning both pewter and tin nearby. Oh, and copper.

A Mistborn then, and Marsh was near the Venture mansion. His duty was not to protect the young king, but he should probably check it out.

Marsh burn steel, dropped a coin, and launched himself to the next building over. He kept his bronze flared. The Mistborn was close now and it may have been late at night, but he had a suspicion…

He saw the small figure before he landed on the building behind her. Vin turned, crouching, her daggers already out, her mistcloak waving behind her. She was not burning bronze, but she’d hardly have needed it to detect his approach. Likely, the tin would not have been necessary either.

Lifting a hand in greeting, Marsh reached behind him, Pulling the coin he’d used back to his hand and pocketing it.

‘I didn’t know you went out in the mists,’ Vin said, a little curiously, as she tucked her daggers away again.

‘I don’t usually,’ Marsh admitted, certain that had been obvious from his blatant approach. ‘I was hoping for a… change, I suppose. The obligators can be testing.’

‘Will you be coming out often now, then?’ Vin asked. ‘When Kelsier first showed me what I could do I wanted to be out every night. This must be like that, for you.’

‘I don’t think so. I’d rather be without it.’

‘Oh.’ Vin looked away.

Marsh stood quietly over the city. Vin’s kandra was nowhere to be seen. The creature rarely was when Marsh was around, something to do with its contract. Although exactly what Marsh was supposed to sense from it he had no idea. Yet another mystery.

He’d had no plans to find Vin, but he realised now he was here he did, in fact, have something for her. No need for it to wait until morning now.

Marsh reached into his robe and produced a slip of paper, handing it over to her.

‘What is it?’ Vin asked, taking it a little warily, but she was reading it so answering seemed redundant. ‘Aren’t the obligators supposed to give this to Elend?’

‘Supposed to, yes.’ Marsh eyed the list. ‘But they don’t.’

It named nobles who the Ministry suspected were plotting to assassinate Elend. That, and their known Mistborn or Mistings. Marsh had taken to hunting down the details once a week, making sure nothing had changed.

‘Can’t you make them?’

Marsh shrugged. ‘I’ve tried. If I chase it up they pass something on. But it’s rarely complete.’

‘But they have the information!’

‘Of course. They want to know who to approach with offers of support.’

Vin scowled, folding her arms.

Marsh shrugged again. ‘They’re not adjusting well to a noble in charge. It sits poorly with them. And the harder I push them, the more support I lose. It is a balancing act.’

‘Is it because you were part of the rebellion? Is that why they won’t follow you?’

‘For the most part, they do. Anyway, I should be getting back. Obligators tend to rise early and I’m expected to oversee their prayers tomorrow.’ Marsh gestured towards the list. ‘Good luck.’

Vin nodded.

Marsh didn’t envy her own role in this. Constant vigilance, knowing that assassins may strike at any time… and at the king she was in love with.

Certainly an improvement on her old life. But not without a price.

A lot of this new world had come with a heavy price.


	6. Chapter 6

Marsh stormed up the stairs in the Canton of Resource, not stopping to acknowledge the obligators who bowed to him. He was up the stairs and in the High Prelan’s office before anyone had time to arrive there before him with a warning.

High Prelan Riacar half rose from his desk, eyes widening.

‘I asked,’ Marsh snarled, putting both hands on the desk and leaning over him, ‘for information on the atium.’

_Several times now, in fact._

‘I don’t know where the atium is.’

‘Your Canton handled it. Are you telling me you were ignorant of that?’

‘We didn’t handle the atium!’

Marsh gritted his teeth and leaned closer, lowering his voice to a growl; ‘Where is it?’

The High Prelan was pressing himself down into his chair. ‘We only distributed it among the nobles! We never saw the bulk of it!’

‘You lie. Where did the atium go?’

‘I don’t know! My lord, I swear. I don’t know.’

Marsh leaned back. ‘The most valuable metal in all the Final Empire. You handle the resources of the Final Empire. How could you not _know_?’

‘The Lord Ruler didn’t allocate that role to us,’ the High Prelan said, a bead of sweat travelling down his forehead.

‘And yet you admit you handled some of it.’

‘Only between the nobles! It wasn’t our duty.’ The High Prelan took a deep breath. ‘Perhaps… Since it was so linked to the economy, my lord, the Canton of Finance would surely know.’

_Interesting. Particularly since I just walked across from interrogating Finance._

The Canton of Finance, incidentally, had pointed him to the Canton of Resource. Again.

Marsh took a deep breath, and forcefully calmed himself down. The likelihood was that one of them was lying. Perhaps both. Either way, the fact of the matter was that he was being led around as a piece in their games. This particular game seemed simple enough; send the angry Inquisitor to your rival Canton. Well, he was not interested in playing such a game.

_You must find the atium!_

Marsh tilted his head at the High Prelan. ‘I will be sending in obligators from the Canton of Inquisition to audit your paperwork. I suggest that if your Canton has been in charge of the atium, that you remember before they find it.’

_Find the atium personally! It’s vital to Elend’s success!_

However, many things were vital to Elend’s success. The Ministry was more than enough to worry about. He spun and strode from the Canton of Resource. He’d send obligators from Inquisition into the Canton of Finance section of this building as well, of course. That would treat them both the same _and_ give Inquisition a sense of importance.

Which was becoming necessary. He couldn’t rely on his own membership in Inquisition being enough to keep them onside. Obligators and Inquisitors had been kept separate enough that his power was not sufficient to keep them happy. This might achieve that.

Besides, he _had_ spent too much time personally searching for the atium. And getting… excessively angry at his lack of success, perhaps. He certainly needed to be getting more sleep.

Half-way out of the Canton, Marsh paused. _Excessively angry…_

He burnt bronze. Some obligators within the Canton were burning various metals. A couple of those were Soothers, but he couldn’t sense an active Rioter. That didn’t mean there wasn’t one. The obligator could have extinguished their metal as soon as Marsh left the room. Unless… Marsh flared bronze. But no, still nothing. No obligator trying to hide behind a coppercloud.

Still, that left the possibility an already extinguished metal. An obligator from Finance, perhaps? Or someone in Resource hoping to conceal something unrelated? Regardless, he would need to be more careful.

Marsh headed back to the Canton of Inquisition. He’d send those obligators over right away, and make sure one of them was a Tineye. It would be interesting to know if they smelt any burning paper.

_______________________

Once again, Marsh spent his free time with Sazed. Save perhaps Vin, Sazed seemed the most comfortable in his presence. And Sazed was a vast improvement on obligators.

He was also talking about heading out of Luthadel.

‘When will you leave?’ Marsh asked, tension returning to him. Sazed’s leaving would mean he would _only_ talk about the Ministry. No one else sought out his presence and Marsh… didn’t push it. He wasn’t certain he wanted to. Kelsier’s crew had never been his friends and something felt different now. And not simply that they were afraid of him.

Something… else. As if there were more important things to be doing. Which was true; running the Steel Ministry.

_But that is not it._

The mists…

Marsh shook his head to clear it, and refocused on Sazed.

‘Soon, I think,’ Sazed said, almost regretfully. ‘The Synod would have preferred if I’d already left.’

Marsh nodded, but regarded Sazed thoughtfully for a moment. ‘You don’t seem as enthusiastic as I’d expected.’

Sazed flushed red. ‘I do hope to teach the people. Finally being about to serve the purpose my people have worked towards for so long is indeed an honour. I think… I am surprised for the duty to fall to me.’

From Sazed? Really? The Terrisman had always wanted to preach his knowledge to those who he could. For those who knew. And yet, why not?

Marsh snorted. _He fits in well with the rest of us._

‘I know it is not a bad thing.’ Sazed stared down at his hands. ‘As I say, it is an honour. Merely an unexpected one.’

‘You don’t have to defend it. I…’ Marsh searched for words. ‘To say I never expected _this_ either would be obvious.’ _Who would have expected this… transformation?_ ‘Regardless, I spent a lot of my life fighting with the rebellion, Sazed, and there was always...’ How to explain this? There was always despair with the determination? ‘I joined the Ministry to gather information for the future. Not for this generation.’

‘And so these duties fall to those who least expect it.’

_That is truth._ Marsh stared out over the blue lined room. He’d never know what the inside of Keep Venture looked like with regular eyesight. It was supposed to be spectacular. Particularly the colours in the stained glass windows.

‘I had assumed you thought differently.’ Marsh shrugged at Sazed to show he meant no offence. ‘You seemed like you thought Kell had a chance.’

‘I thought I did,’ Sazed said. ‘Or rather… I thought it was worth the attempt. Did you not think it was worth the attempt?’

‘I thought it was yet another ego trip from my brother.’ Marsh scowled. ‘And I was right.’

‘It is possible you are too hard on your brother, I think.’

‘Possible. But not likely.’ Marsh stood and turned away from Sazed. ‘I must get back.’

Sazed stood as well, but stepped towards Marsh. ‘I meant no offence.’

‘None taken.’

‘Your abrupt exit is for other reasons, then?’

Marsh faced Sazed sharply, and saw the Terrisman eyeing him apologetically. Marsh sighed. Sazed was non-confrontational, but he had a very particular style to it.

‘Kelsier killed a lot of people, Sazed. Many were… if not innocent than hardly guilty either. This plan of his, it worked, but it shouldn’t have. He raised the skaa in rebellion with eight Inquisitors and the Lord Ruler still standing. He made himself a godlike figure and set them up to be slaughtered as they worshipped him.’

_And he died._

‘Would you perhaps like to sit back down? I imagine the Ministry will not implode if you take the afternoon off.’

_Implode? No. Plan a coup? Perhaps._

‘Perhaps not.’ Marsh sat and looked directly at Sazed. ‘You would have been killed too, you know.’

‘I do know that. It was a risk I took, and it was a risk the Synod did not agree with. You _and_ your brother took the same risk.’

‘Yes. But I choose to do so. Do you think many skaa in Luthadel would have survived the Lord Ruler’s wrath? He never cared if those he executed were the ones who actually rebelled.’

‘Your point is solid, I think,’ Sazed said. ‘Yet you talk as though it could still happen. These events… they never occurred.’

‘I suppose not.’ Marsh folded his arms.

_But they could have. Perhaps should have. This was hardly the most likely outcome. Did Kelsier believe he was truly dying for something? Or did he simply want to go out as a god? To ensure he was remembered?_ _He’s certainly done a good job of haunting us all._

After all, he and Sazed had begun the conversation discussing Sazed’s work as a Keeper.

‘They worship him,’ Marsh added. ‘It’s… odd. Are you adding that religion for your collection?’

He knew Sazed was collecting information on the Steel Ministry. Marsh had – if grudgingly – provided him with some information. It remained an ongoing point of contention.

‘I am.’ Sazed watched him for a beat when Marsh didn’t respond. ‘You don’t have complaints? From what you’ve said, I’d thought you’d dislike the entire concept of the Survivor’s religion.’

‘Oh, I do. Watching them worshiping Kell as a god never fails to annoy me.’ Marsh lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. ‘Do you know how many complaints I have received this week alone from obligators? About that religion?’

Sazed smiled. ‘Ah.’

‘Eight,’ Marsh said. ‘Across all Cantons. It appears to anger them all equally. They would like me to crush it, but that was the Lord Ruler’s method, not ours.’

‘What do you tell them?’

‘Sometimes I ignore the complaint. Sometimes I suggest _they_ ignore _it_.’ He gave Sazed a nod in acknowledgement. ‘Once I suggested they document its doctrines. So they could understand the competition.’

‘If I am understanding this correctly,’ Sazed said, his eyes crinkled in amusement. ‘It annoys you but… it annoys the obligators more.’

‘Yes.’ Marsh allowed himself a smile. _That is exactly it._

_______________________

‘What do you mean ‘mostly certain’?’ Marsh asked, resisting – not for the first time – the urge to simply walk out of the Canton and leave the obligators to it. ‘I sent you to examine _all_ the paperwork.’

‘Yes, my lord,’ said Careli. He had once been the prelan in charge of the Soothing stations – now reassigned. ‘Only they said that they did not have to cooperate.’

Once, Marsh had watched his every move around this man. Now he kept his eyes down, terrified that he’d disappointed Marsh. Or, no; terrified that he’d disappointed _an Inquisitor_.

‘I told them to cooperate.’

Eliar, standing next to Careli, cleared his throat. ‘That’s not what they’re saying, my lord.’

‘They claim that you merely said you were sending us over,’ Careli said, his voice shaking slightly. ‘That you gave no order to cooperate, my lord.’

Marsh ground his teeth. ‘Who, exactly, said that?’

‘The High Prelan of Resource, my lord. He outranks me – ‘

‘Perhaps. But he knowingly disobeyed regardless.’ Marsh tapped a finger on his desk. He could not allow it to stand unopposed.

‘The information is still clear,’ said Eliar. ‘They don’t know where the atium is.’

_No one does. I am beginning to think that no one in this city knows anything useful._

After all, Marsh did not know how to run the Steel Ministry. Elend Venture clearly did not know how to lead an Assembly – unsurprising since no one had done it for a thousand years – and apparently not a single person in all of the city knew where to find the most valuable asset of the Final Empire.

_Let it be Vin’s problem then. I don’t have time for this._

‘There are gaps in here.’ Marsh nudged the report of Resource forward on the desk. He looked up, fixing his spike eyes on Careli.

‘For where they would not let us see the papers,’ Careli said, flinching back.

As a result, it painted an incomplete picture on where the Final Empire had been at when the Lord Ruler died. It was not as useful as Marsh had hoped. However, despite the gaps, he agreed with Eliar. They did not know anything about the atium. Enough of the records here discussed it, and went back further than the Collapse.

If the Canton of Resource was hiding something, then they had been doing so for centuries. And Marsh could see no reason for that.

He flipped through the report. ‘It contains almost nothing on the High Prelan.’

‘His office was one place he refused to let anyone search, my lord,’ Eliar said.

_Of course it was._

‘The Canton of Resource,’ Marsh said, ‘has also been handing over very little information to His Majesty, even once prompted.’

_They continue to fight you. Something must be done._

‘Yes, my lord,’ Careli said.

‘Despite this information being quite important to the new government’s ability to rule the city.’

‘Yes, my lord,’ Careli said, his tone absolutely neutral.

‘Is this reticence coming from the High Prelan, or the entire Canton?’ Marsh asked, staring between Careli and Eliar. Neither’s expression was giving anything anyway, but Marsh was rapidly forming his own suspicions.

‘I couldn’t say, my lord,’ said Careli. ‘It’s unclear.’

‘And… this report.’ Marsh indicated the papers in front of him. ‘Has a copy of this been given to Lord Venture?’

‘No, my lord! It is important Ministry information!’

Marsh sighed inwardly. ‘I see. You may go.’

Both turned to leave.

‘Not you, Obligator Eliar,’ Marsh said.

Eliar turned back, almost hiding the alarm in his expression, but not quite. ‘Yes, my lord?’

‘There is a reluctance to pass information on to Lord Venture. It seems wide-spread.’

‘Yes, my lord.’

Marsh remembered Eliar as reasonably talkative, from when he’d been an obligator. Not so now. Was this because he disliked Marsh for his betrayal, or had he always been this way with Inquisitors? Marsh was inclined to think the latter. So far, he had not caught Eliar holding back information.

‘Is it worse in the Canton of Resource, or is this because they are under scrutiny?’

‘I… don’t think it’s worse there, my lord,’ Eliar spoke slowly, clearly choosing his words with care. But he stopped and swallowed, staring down at Marsh’s desk.

‘Speak,’ Marsh said. ‘There’s something else.’

‘The attitude towards Lord Venture varies between Canton’s… but not that much, my lord. The Canton of Resource’s reticence to give up their information was not due to that. Or not… entirely.’

‘No, I thought not. Was it inter-Canton rivalry?’ Marsh asked, very deliberately. He’d draw Eliar out to say it directly, mostly to see if he would.

Eliar winced. ‘Possibly, my lord. That certainly would have been a factor.’ He looked up, caught Marsh’s expression, and stared at the desk again. ‘The High Prelan of Resource does not like you, my lord.’

_Ah. There we go_.

‘His reasoning?’

‘I don’t know, my lord.’

Marsh leaned forward. ‘Guess.’

Eliar closed his eyes. ‘He preferred the Lord Prelan in the position and… he does not like skaa, my lord.’

‘Really.’

‘I’m sorry, my lord! I have tried to explain that you are _clearly_ no longer skaa but – ‘

‘Oh?’

Eliar clamped his mouth shut.

Marsh let him squirm for a moment, an icy cool settling in his chest. ‘Do you believe this will be… an ongoing problem with the High Prelan?’

Eliar swallowed twice, then whispered; ‘Yes, my lord.’

‘Thank you. You may go.’


	7. Chapter 7

High Prelan Riacar’s house was not a nobleman’s mansion, but it was not far off. Obligators of lower rank had far less ostentatious housing. In fact, it was possible that even High Prelan’s had not had such accommodation until recently. Many nobles had, after all, fled the city. Marsh didn’t know whether Riacar had claimed the house and nor did he care.

Guards patrolled outside – a reasonable precaution against regular violence and intrusions. Marsh avoided them with ease, the mists and unusually heavy ash fall masking his approach.

Once he got to it, the back door was not directly guarded. Marsh considered simply knocking it down. But that would be too blatant. Besides, he had things to accomplish before he was noticed.

Instead, he had brought his lock picks.

Not a usual tool for an Inquisitor, he suspected. But a perfectly natural one for a half-breed Seeker who’d spent years running the skaa rebellion.

He made short work of the lock and let himself inside. A quick circuit around the house showed that the library was the most promising candidate. The study was simply too obvious. Much like refusing the obligators access to his office. A ploy that would allow him to be smug when Marsh insisted and found nothing.

Well, Marsh had chosen a different route. He perused the books. All Steel Ministry approved, of course. He required no light to read the titles.

One shelf was, inevitably, cleaner than the others. High Prelan Riacar had not thought to keep the place dusted thoroughly enough to hide his activities.

Marsh removed the books, and found the papers hidden behind them.

_I thought so._

Replacing the books, Marsh made his silent way back through the house to the study. He rolled his shoulders, sat down at the desk, and began to read.

They were letters. Clearly and unambiguously looking for support for the High Prelan. Some implicated other obligators in Luthadel, but most were bound for other cities. Presumably just as soon as he found a reliable messenger. None seemed to be asking to elevate him, however, which had been what Marsh had expected.

_If he does not want to be the next Lord Prelan, changing the power to Resource then what…?_

Marsh turned to the next sheet and raised his eyebrows. _To my Lord Inquisitor;_ the first line read. And yet… it was not intended for Marsh. He read on;

_The situation in Luthadel is volatile and requires a strong hand. The boy who had been named king will not hold the position for long and the defences at the city are weak. We at the Steel Ministry would welcome your return to the Central Dominance._

It went on in much the same vein. The promises were fairly obvious ones. That no nobleman would ever be acceptable to the High Prelan was not news to Marsh, but he had not expected any obligator to go as far as to _invite_ an Inquisitor to be in charge. Perhaps he thought they would take the role of the Lord Ruler, and there _would_ be another Lord Prelan.

Perhaps Marsh had underestimated the pull of a supernatural leader to a population that had known nothing else.

_And I, being a skaa, am simply not good enough for him_.

Combined with the fact that Marsh supported Elend the result seemed to be… this letter. He wondered if it was the only one Riacar had written, or one of many. It hardly mattered.

Someone moved upstairs. Marsh ignored the noises, shuffling through the rest of the letters. Alongside the one to the Inquisitors, they made perfect sense.

Footsteps decended. Paranoia, probably along with a little noise Marsh had made, had clearly woken the High Prelan. Marsh burnt tin, wincing very slightly at the increased pain. Riacar’s footsteps disappeared into the library. Books were shuffled; there was an intake of breath.

‘Guards!’ Riacar shouted. ‘Intruder! Guards!’

They burst in the front door. Riacar ran to meet them, moving past the study.

‘There has been an intruder. Find them, _immediately._ Then bring them to me.’ Riacar came charging back the other way, passing right in front of the study.

Marsh extinguished his tin. ‘That will not be necessary.’

The High Prelan froze just outside the doorway. A split second later he spun, holding his lantern out in front of him. His guards paused beside him, looking uneasy.

‘They would not have come,’ Marsh said.

Riacar took a few steps into his study and stopped, unwilling to come too close. ‘Surely you would have welcomed your kind into this city.’

‘Irrelevant. They would not come.’

‘Why not?’

_I have no idea._

Marsh smiled grimly. ‘All this scheming and treachery… and it was always for nothing.’

Riacar sneered at him. ‘And you would know all about treachery, wouldn’t you?’

‘Yes.’ Marsh folded the papers and tucked them into his robe. Then he stood up.

Despite his bluster, Riacar took a step backwards. Marsh moved out from behind the desk and the High Prelan turned, trying to run.

Marsh burnt iron, saw that there was metal in his belt, and Pulled him back. Riacar fell down heavily, and scrambled to rise. Burning pewter, Marsh was there before he could fully get to his feet. He grabbed the front of the High Prelan’s robes and hauled him upright.

The guards, standing in the doorway, made no move to intervene. Riacar struggled desperately, kicking and fighting, but he was no Thug. He was, in fact, a smoker. Little good that did him against an Inquisitor.

_Kill him._

Marsh cuffed him on the side of the head. Not enough to render him fully unconscious. But enough to get him to Kredik Shaw with little resistence.

_______________________

The other prelans responded promptly to the order to arrive at Kredik Shaw early the next morning.

Marsh had chosen the same meeting room as before. It was, if nothing else, a good size for a meeting with the prelans. This time, Breeze was not invited. The message here did not need amplifying.

He, however, watched from the same place as before as they assembled. There was less muttering this time; each and every one of them noticed the alter in the centre of the room. Marsh had removed it from one of the nearby prayer rooms. Whatever its usual function, at about knee height and a few feet across it was a useful size.

Marsh nodded to himself, satisfied all the prelans had arrived. Beside him, Riacar started to struggle again. The man was manacled, but with heavy iron weights attached to the chains. Marsh was only able to carry them by burning pewter.

_Let’s get this over with._

He dragged the struggling High Prelan out in front of the crowd.

As one, the prelans watched their progress to the alter. Marsh brought Riacar right up close, and set the weights down on the other side, leaving the High Prelan on his knees, stretched over the alter.

Not one of the prelans spoke.

‘Riacar, High Prelan of the Canton of Resource,’ Marsh said, making sure his voice carried over the room, ‘has been found to be conspiring against our city. And the order within our Ministry.’

He paused, and took out his axe. No doubt the obsidian would gleam in the half-light. To Marsh, it looked like it always did. Riacar tried and failed to get up.

‘Such disobedience,’ Marsh said, raising the axe, ‘will not be tolerated.’

The sharp blade passed easily through the High Prelan’s neck, spraying Marsh with blood.

He paused, taking in the expressions of the prelans. Some did look horrified. Most did not look surprised. Marsh nodded to himself. That should, for the moment, suppress the worst of the dissent.

_______________________

Venni bowed as she entered his office, although she eyed him warily. There’d been an increase in such behaviour since the previous day. Marsh took it as a good sign.

Yet Venni’s report would be important. Elend received some information from other cities, but he hoped the Ministry’s vast reach would allow him to get more.

‘My lord, I bring news of the Conventical of Seran.’

Marsh frowned. _That was not really what I had in mind._ A Ministry stronghold was unlikely to help aid Elend’s government.

‘Your order have assembled there, my lord.’

_My what?_ Marsh frowned harder, before the inevitable dawned on him. He revised his earlier description. The Conventical of Seran was an _Inquisitor_ stronghold.

‘Yes,’ Marsh said and, without thinking, added; ‘They are all there.’

Venni stood a little straighter. ‘Yes, my lord.’

_I am very glad that was correct._ It made him look far better informed than he was. Venni would be less tempted to try and feed him false information. _If only I knew_ how _I knew that._

Next time he would have to be more careful not to _speak_ information he was unsure of. At least, not around obligators.

‘Anything else?’

‘Armies march across the Final Empire, my lord,’ Venni said. ‘Nobles set themselves up as kings. They pillage, they take farming skaa for their armies, leaving a prediction of food shortages in all dominances. Many obligators have been forced to abandon Canton buildings and move to more stable cities.’

Marsh kept his face impassive. _They take skaa for their armies._ It was nothing Elend didn’t already know and yet… _This revolution was supposed to_ improve _their lives. Not worsen them_.

‘And the koloss?’ he asked. ‘There are rumours that they rampage.’

Venni nodded, her expression grim. ‘They do, my lord. Reports from those areas have been… disturbing.’

_Such a description from someone who has regularly dealt with Inquisitors does not fill me with hope._

‘Send a detailed report to the palace.’

Venni bowed. ‘Already done, my lord.’

Marsh paused. _Really?_ ‘Good.’

‘His majesty may not like the full report, my lord.’

‘Why?’

‘Lord Straff Venture is leading the armies in the Northern Dominance.’

‘Yes,’ Marsh said. ‘That is known.’

_Not promising, however, from what I know of him._

Venni nodded. ‘He grows in power. His army is large enough to threaten Luthadel and… he still uses obligators. Eliar and I have conferred. We don’t believe it’s imminent, but with his opinion on his son we do think he’ll try it.’

‘Inform me again when it _is_ imminent.’

_Elend Venture is acceptable. Straff Venture is not. I wonder if I could turn Ministry opinion against him… but no. That would do little good against an army._

‘Yes, my lord.’

A knock came at the door and Marsh motioned for Venni to open it. One of Elend’s soldiers stood at the door, staring at Marsh. He didn’t enter.

‘Message from the palace… your grace.’

Venni scowled at the pause, but took the paper from him, handing it to Marsh.

Marsh read it quickly and then waved the messenger away. Elend required him at the palace later in the day. Hopefully that was not _more_ problems.

‘Do any of the armies look as though they _are_ about to march on Luthadel?’ Marsh asked.

‘None yet, my lord. There are many and… none have stable bases. It’s chaotic. Luthadel… is probably the most stable city in the Final Empire.’

Marsh nodded. _Good. That little piece of information must be spread through the Ministry. Perhaps it will help._

He dismissed Venni and stared at the stack of work he had for the day. So much to do. If he started on it now, he’d certainly be late to his meeting with Elend.

Marsh stood up. _Or I could go now and wait in Keep Luthadel. Better that than the obligators seeing me keeping the king waiting._

_______________________

Marsh stared at the rectangular piece of metal. It did _not_ match the rest of the décor. Although… it _wasn’t_ just metal. Another material sat on top, glued there. Still, though, it was hardly decorative; the top material had no more detail than the metal.

He frowned at the object. Most things, he’d been able to identify. But this? It could not simply be a large rectangular piece of metal in a frame on the wall. So what _was_ it?

‘Are you well, Marsh?’

Absorbed in the puzzle, Marsh had not even heard Sazed approach.

‘Yes.’ He hesitated.

_No one else needs to know how Inquisitor vision works. You shouldn’t let people know its limits._

Certainly, that was solid advice. But this was Sazed and Marsh had no idea what the damned object was.

He gestured at it. ‘What is that?’

Sazed’s expression, already concerned, grew more so. ‘You wish to know…?’

‘What that thing is,’ Marsh repeated, waving a hand again. Already, he regretted the question.

‘It is you, my friend,’ Sazed said, very gently.

_What?_ Marsh turned back to the odd decoration, than back to Sazed. _Perhaps I misheard._ Sazed’s concerned expression suggested he was seriously misunderstanding _something._

Sazed took a step closer. ‘Would you like to go for a walk? I have been inside for some time and a walk would do me some good, I think.’

‘I simply wish to know what it is,’ Marsh said, again, through lack of other ideas.

‘I believe we may be talking at cross purposes,’ Sazed said, in a tone that suggested he hoped they were. ‘What is it you want to identify?’

Marsh gritted his teeth and pointed, directly and unambiguously, at the metal thing. ‘That. Right in front of me.’

Sazed put a hand on his arm. ‘That is your reflection, I’m afraid.’

_My reflection…?_

‘A mirror,’ Marsh said in relief. Finally. That made a good deal of sense. The material coating the metal must be glass; unstained glass.

Beside him, Sazed relaxed, and the details of the conversation replayed in Marsh’s head. _Ah. I sounded mad._ He gritted his teeth.

‘You… cannot see the mirror?’ Sazed asked, his curiosity coming out in full force.

Marsh turned away. ‘I can see it. It simply looks… different.’

‘But you cannot see your reflection, I think.’

_Apparently not. That may be the only good thing to come from this conversation._

‘I must see Elend,’ Marsh said, stepping away from Sazed, now that he had well and truly embarrassed himself. And, undoubtedly, opened the door for further conversations on the subject.

He’d arrive very early now; hopefully Elend would not be busy. Marsh took the stairs two at a time and Elend’s guards winced very slightly at the sight of him.

‘His majesty asked to see me?’ Marsh growled.

They nodded and one hurriedly went into Elend’s office. After a brief conversation – which Marsh resisted the temptation to listen into – he emerged and waved Marsh inside.

Elend Venture sat at his desk, surrounded by open books and notes. ‘Sorry. I wasn’t expecting you for a while.’

Marsh waved a hand vaguely. ‘I had time now. If I’m interrupting I will return later.’

‘No, no, it’s fine.’ Elend shuffled his books around.

Marsh waited.

Elend eventually looked up. ‘Um. This is a little difficult but, uh, I heard rumours you’d had someone executed…?’

‘The High Prelan of the Canton of Resource,’ Marsh said. ‘Yesterday.’

‘Oh? You… did have someone executed? Because I have to say I really wasn’t sure…’

‘I did. He was making cooperation impossible.’

Elend was frowning. ‘You didn’t ask me about that.’

Marsh shrugged. ‘Ministry business. He has already been replaced.’

‘Yes, well, the thing is, I haven’t _been_ executing people. I firmly believe everyone should have their say and the public executions were such a noticeable part of the Lord Ruler’s reign. I don’t want it happening in mine.’

‘This wasn’t public. And it was one obligator. It’s hardly comparable.’

It hadn’t been at all public. In fact, Marsh was annoyed… not that Elend had heard about it, but that it had happened so quickly. It implied that an obligator had made the point of either talking about it around someone they knew reported to Elend, or reporting it directly. Either way it meant more obligator games. Someone was going behind his back to Elend.

Annoying, but not really surprising.

‘Now see, it wasn’t public in the same way, but you did have obligators present. And there wasn’t a trial.’ Elend paused. ‘I mean, the Ministry doesn’t hold its own trials, does it?’

‘No.’ Marsh had, admittedly, made all the decisions himself. ‘I could arrest them in the future, but the Ministry’s holding cells are not pleasant.’

‘Well, neither is being executed I wouldn’t think.’ Elend winced. ‘I was thinking, obligators put a lot of value in their ranks, don’t they?’

‘Of course.’

Elend’s face lit up. Marsh was coming to recognise this as a sign he’d been working on an idea for a while and was now hoping to put it into practise. Normally it was worth listening. But with the Ministry… Elend had never been part of it. Marsh knew it to be quite distinct from noble politics.

‘Great! So the obvious solution would be to threaten to demote them.’

‘Not possible.’

Elend’s face fell. ‘Why not?’

‘The Ministry do highly value rank. The entire system is heavily based on it. As such, they mark each promotion distinctively.’ Marsh gestured at his face, realised this mostly just brought attention to the spikes, and elaborated; ‘The tattoos.’

‘Oh. Right. I’d forgotten about that.’ Elend shuffled his books about again. ‘Uh. You couldn’t just alter that system a little?’

‘No.’

‘I see. Um. Still, I don’t want executions.’

_So I’m to do what, exactly? Lock them in Kredik Shaw? Where they used to keep Mistings? Perhaps he wants me to banish them from the city, where they can gather allies and come straight back at us with inside knowledge of Elend’s government._

_And yet ‘don’t execute people’ is hardly an unreasonable request._

He would, he supposed, be unhappy with a king who asked for the opposite.


	8. Chapter 8

Sazed slung his pack over his shoulder and straightened. Whatever misgivings or uncertainties he had, they were not stopping him. He would leave Luthadel and teach the people.

Marsh watched quietly. _The people who still remain. Those who are not currently in armies, fighting battles that they have no choice in_.

The plans Marsh had discussed with him suggested Sazed was not heading into the worse areas. But nowhere was untouched. What did the skaa outside of Luthadel think when they thought about the rebellion? Were they resentful? Did they still hope? Or were they too tired to care?

Marsh wondered if he himself fit into the latter category.

The Steel Ministry… he spent his days arguing with obligators. Sometimes over things that were painfully petty. Meanwhile people outside of Luthadel starved and were killed by rampaging koloss and noblemen with no idea how to be a king. And absolutely no compassion.

_No, I do still care. Just less about here._

Luthadel was the centre. The place where the skaa had the most support. It was Marsh’s home, but it had Vin and Elend holding it up as best they could. Most days, it was enough. And… the Steel Ministry was mostly stabilised.

_In a way, I suppose I envy Sazed._

No, not just envy. There was some… _pull_ to the outside world. Something he needed to find. Something lurked out there in the mists… Growing stronger…

Something he needed to ignore. Surely it was not more important than stability in Luthadel. Even if a problem with the mists hinted at something that could affect the whole of the Final Empire. Such as it was.

Marsh leaned against the wall and watched Elend and Vin bid farewell to Sazed. Elend still badly needed support, and Marsh found himself frowning. Was Sazed not the best person to give it to him? He had his copperminds and he had experience with both skaa and noble society. But he had a duty to his people.

As the others moved away, Marsh stepped forwards.

Sazed waited as he approached. ‘How is the Steel Ministry faring?’

‘It remains a spiteful pit of prejudice and arrogance,’ Marsh said.

‘Ah.’ Sazed smiled. ‘So it has improved, then?’

Marsh snorted. ‘Barely. Good luck, Sazed.’

‘Thank you, my friend. I will visit Luthadel again, but in the meantime I wish _you_ luck with the obligators.’ Sazed looked faintly worried. ‘I believe Elend could do without further complications.’

‘I’ll keep them in line,’ Marsh said, but he knew what Sazed meant. He’d had plenty of obligators send reports of Assembly meetings. They were not comforting to read.

Sazed passed through the gates and Marsh watched him go.

_You will visit Luthadel again, but will things be the same when you do?_

Marsh shook his head, turning back to walk through the city. Such thoughts were unhelpful. Elend was simply inexperienced and young. Ideally, he’d be older and better at this. However, Marsh was certain he had yet to see ideal circumstances for _anything._

Something moved up on the roof, and Marsh recognised Vin a split second before she landed. He removed his hand from the axe handle. _I should, perhaps, have been burning bronze._

‘Marsh, have you been in Kredik Shaw?’

_To the point, as always._

‘Yes. Prayers are still held there, insisting otherwise would be too much of a change.’

‘Is there information there? Did the Inquisitors keep records?’

‘I… don’t know.’ Marsh paused. _Of course they did. Why haven’t I been through them?_ ‘I will look.’

The only thing he’d searched for in Kredik Shaw was the atium.

‘Elend wants to see the files.’ Vin shrugged. ‘I think he has enough to read already, but anything the Lord Ruler thought should be hidden has to be important, right?’

‘Possibly,’ Marsh said, thinking about the few brief times he’d been down into the Inquisitors dungeons. The kind of records they’d kept down there should, perhaps, stay down there. ‘I’ll investigate. Tell Elend I’ll send him anything important as I find it.’

_______________________

The Inquisitors kept _all_ their records in the dungeons. Likely to keep them from prying obligator eyes.

Marsh grimaced as he walked down the stairs. Torches sat unlit on the walls, but he had no need for them. Light made no difference to how well he could see the bloodstains.

Many cells were down here, places Marsh had only been briefly shown. Picking one at random, he ducked inside. A pile of spikes sat in the corner. And a table in the centre, dipped in the middle; person shaped. Marsh scowled.

Perhaps to another person, it would seem odd. But to Marsh, its purpose was obvious. And yet… they had not dragged him down here to be transformed.

During his brief time with the other Inquisitors Kar _had_ mentioned something about looking for more Bind points. Was this for those experiments?

Marsh prowled around the table. Something _was_ odd about it. Oh. Yes. That was it. There were restraints in the indented part of the table. _To what purpose…?_ They had not restrained him. They hadn’t needed to. Once the first spike had been placed – through his eye, no less – Marsh had been insensible.

He shook his head and backed out again. _Files. I am here for the files. Not this information. Elend has no use for it._

The files were not difficult to find. Marsh dumped the first lot of papers out on a desk.

_How odd to find desks down here._

Although, why not? Inquisitors needed them to work, just like humans. Marsh himself, after all, worked at a desk. He sat down at this one and got to work.

Immediately, the purpose of the table was clear.

_Not_ for making Inquisitors, however it could doubtlessly be used as such. No, this was for experimenting. Files and files of diagrams listing where spikes had been placed to no effect, where combinations of spikes had been placed, also to no effect. Not just on Inquisitors. Someone… was looking to _create_ something.

_Did the Lord Ruler learn how to create the Inquisitors then?_

Perhaps Sazed would know whether the creatures had existed Pre-Ascension. Marsh suspected not. He suspected Ministry doctrine would agree, but Ministry doctrine had been written by the Lord Ruler and was therefore unreliable. And Sazed was not around to ask.

Whatever the case, he had not succeeded in his experiments. Or, at least, not the ones carried out here.

_What is it, I wonder, that the Inquisitors do at the Convectical of Seran? So much fighting. No one would even notice them taking their victims._

Perhaps Elend should be told of this. However… that would mean explaining Hemalurgy. It would mean explaining where his own spikes had come from. It would mean explaining the extent of the monstrosity he’d become. And it would release the secrets of Hemalurgy into the wider world.

What, then, would stop everyone from deciding to experiment? If they thought it would make them Mistborn…

Marsh set the information on Hemalurgy aside, and stood up.

Other information was down here. Filed separately.

He selected a file from the other section. Flicking through it, Marsh found this was far more the kind of thing Elend would be interested in. Information on the nobility. Some of it Allomancer activity the Inquisitors had gained through their ability to pierce copperclouds. Which was now known, if not the mechanism. _This_ he could hand to Elend Venture.

Nonetheless… Marsh went through the first few files very carefully. Nothing could leak through. Best to avoid the awkward questions entirely.

Marsh stood again and perused the potentially useful section. Stacks and stacks of information… going through this by himself was going to take days. No one else could be allowed down to help. So far, he was lucky the obligators now only came to Kredik Shaw for the prayers Marsh himself led (if poorly). That luck may not hold.

He circled the desk and its stack of Hemalurgic diagrams and meticulous records.

_Burn them._ _They reveal too much._

Nodding, Marsh gathered up all he could carry, heading to a better ventilated room. One of the torture chambers. Air had to get down here somewhere and presumably the purpose of such ventilation would have been to deal with the stench of blood and death. Judging by the lingering smell, it had not worked.

Marsh’s footsteps echoed softly in the silent rooms, all hard edges with no soft surfaces. He dumped the paper in the middle of one room and returned for more. And more. Not _all_ of the Hemalurgy research – not yet. Too much had built up here over the years to be destroyed in one go. Some of it did indeed refer to experiments that had taken place in the Conventical of Seran. Undoubtedly concerning.

Once he was finished, quite a pile of paper loomed in the centre of the room.

Marsh took a single sheet, set fire to the corner, and made sure it took before setting it down again. The problem with having no soft materials meant that very little down here was useful for kindling. Nevertheless, the fire took hold.

Fire was… odd. Marsh couldn’t quite see it properly. His blue lined vision made it indistinct. But then, he was relying on the metals in the material he was burning.

The heat and the sharp smell of burning paper assured him that it was, in fact, burning nicely.

Marsh stood and watched until the scent became too strong. The room _was_ ventilated. But whoever had designed it clearly hadn’t _wanted_ the ventilation to be effective. Perhaps it was to scare the victims.

He strode out and returned to viewing the second batch of files, making notes to be sent to Elend. Or Dockson. One of them would make use of this.

Marsh sat and read for hours, until the fire burned down and finally out, leaving a smouldering pile of ashes as clear evidence of what Marsh had done. But who cared? No one would be down here to discover it. And it would only add to the already unpleasant smells.

The horrific, persistent stench of death.

Marsh grimaced, massaging his forehead. He had stayed down there far, far too long. Down among the crimes of Inquisitors and the terrifying evidence of their cruelty. The pain from his spikes increased in intensity, driving throbbing agony through his head and chest.

_Far too long._

He took the few notes he’d made so far and went up the stairs. Returning to fresh air.

_______________________

The obligator entered with only a cursory knock. Marsh took in the Orthodoxy tattoos and the furious expression.

_What did I do now? Forget a prayer ceremony?_

Marsh was fairly certain he hadn’t. He’d spent a long time looking up the rituals so he could actually lead them when necessary.

‘My lord,’ the obligator said, ‘I am hearing rumours you have bowed to pressure from Lord Venture.’

‘I have certainly followed orders from our king,’ Marsh said. ‘As do we all.’

‘The _Ministry_ should be in control!’

Marsh stared at the obligator, certain he’d been introduced and just as certain that the man’s name was long forgotten. ‘It is _not_ in control.’

‘But we should be.’ The obligator moderated his tone. ‘The whole structure of society has rested on us for generations. We _always_ ran the empire. The Lord Ruler is our God, and simply because he is not here right now – ‘

‘He’s dead,’ Marsh pointed out, getting an all too familiar headache. _This? Really? Why now?_

‘ – is no reason to change our society so drastically!’

Of course it wasn’t, to someone who benefited from it. Marsh said nothing, continuing to stare at the obligator.

The obligator took a deep breath. ‘You asserted the power of the Ministry on dissent and then _backed down_ at the slightest hint of disapproval from Lord Venture. This is… This is not the way of the Steel Ministry. My lord. It has gone on _too long_.’

_Are you annoyed because I promise Elend no more executions?_

Marsh’s persistent headache sharpened into a cold pounding. ‘The Final Empire is done. The Ministry is still here _because_ of its skills, at the choosing of His Majesty, King Venture. I have made myself clear on this point.’

_Many times._

‘Of _our_ skills, surely.’

Yes. Certainly of _his_ skills, as a half-skaa Misting who once led the rebellion.

‘The Ministry still has an important place in our new society,’ Marsh growled. ‘Be grateful for it.’

‘There are rumours that you… _my lord_ … That you were part of the resistance. That you were never one of us.’

A reasonable argument, from the obligators perspective. However, Marsh had had plenty of practise answering it. He leaned forward.

‘I was elevated to one of the highest stations in our church. Are you saying you believe our God made a mistake?’

The obligators eyes narrowed. ‘Or we were all deceived and you are a _test_.’

He wasn’t backing off. Unusual. But then as far as Marsh was concerned these were no longer really rumours. This obligator had come to try and use this information to… what? Force Marsh to back down?

_He will be disappointed._

‘I rule our church by degree of the Lord Ruler himself and as the only Inquisitor left in Luthadel. If this tests you, I suggest you find somewhere else to live.’ Marsh reached out and Rioted the man’s fear. Gently. He was getting a little better at subtlety.

‘Or maybe a better king!’ The obligator drew himself up, glaring at Marsh. Perhaps not subtle enough. ‘You, _my lord_ , should not be backing Elend Venture. He _cannot_ rule! He has proved this now.’

_Should not? Bold._

‘You step out of line, obligator,’ Marsh growled. ‘This is far from your place.’

The obligator didn’t back down, not physically, not verbally, and despite Marsh’s continued Rioting.

_This one is more trouble than he’s worth._

Marsh continued to stare him down. It had generally worked _before_ his transformation and it almost always worked now. Particularly with the aid of zinc. Sweat beaded on the man’s forehead.

_He’ll sow discontent through the Ministry. He’ll make your job in Luthadel much harder_.

‘This,’ the obligator hissed, trembling now, ‘is not _order_. This is the decay of our empire and _you_ are leading it.’

‘Elend Venture leads it,’ Marsh said, sharply. The Ministry should lead _nothing_.

‘The Venture boy is known for being disobedient and having his head stuck in a book! He is _unfit_ to rule! He will lead us to disaster!’

Marsh’s headache thumped harder against his skull.

_I should not have to explain myself._

Particularly not to an obligator. This one wasn’t even a prelan. In the Ministry’s own ranking system, he had no right approaching Marsh.

‘He is our king. And we will build our continued existence on his leadership.’

‘We will _not_!’ The obligator froze for a second as Marsh merely stared. Direct insubordination was _not_ how the Ministry organised itself.

_He could rip apart the new government. You can’t allow that._

Marsh stared at the man in front of him with an odd, detached fascination. No. He couldn’t allow this. It was too bold, too blatant. And he’d come alone into Marsh’s office. This obligator… expected to get away with it.

The obligator took a deep breath. ‘The Steel Ministry controls this empire and it always will. If you stand with the Venture boy then you are _not_ one of us. If you support the skaa _governing_ of all things, you are not one of us. I will take Luthadel back for the Ministry we will rise – ‘

Marsh’s axe buried itself in the obligators chest. They both stared at it in equal surprise.

Marsh jerked it back and swung again, with as much force as he could muster, all but cutting the obligator in half. Blood coated him, and the floor, and much of the office. It was bright in his Inquisitor vision. Marsh knelt down, dipped his fingers in it and rubbed it between his fingers. Still felt much the same. He stared the body. It stared back with eternal surprise.

Footsteps sounded in the corridor outside.

Still in his crouch, Marsh froze. He took in the body again, the blood all over the office. He couldn’t even open the door because, although the black robes hid it well enough, he was certain there was blood on his face.

The footsteps continued on past.

Carefully, Marsh stood. The obligator was, very thoroughly, dead.

_He won’t be a threat any longer_.

That much was true. The level of force had been unnecessary, however.

He could smell blood now. His stomach rolled, much as it _should_ have done immediately. Marsh swallowed heavily. He had seen worse. Many times. The Inquisitors method of dealing with skaa Mistings –

But he had never _done_ worse.

_This will cause problems_.

Less so in the Ministry, ironically. This was more or less expected of him. The government would be less impressed. Elend Venture was much more interested – _rightly –_ in ruling without violence. And he’d been fairly clear to Marsh. Still, even if this did get it, he would receive no real repercussions. Elend simply… couldn’t. The Ministry still had too much strength. And the obligators would mutter to themselves if they disliked it, nothing more. This obligator was the first person in a long time to stand up to Marsh. Most avoided him entirely.

But. He’d… Well, he’d prefer if… if it hadn’t happened.

Perhaps it was better that no one knew it had. And blood was easier to remove before it dried.

Marsh set about cleaning the office. Deposing of the body would be harder, but not impossible. He’d wait for night. The mists could hide him, even if they did pull away from him now.


	9. Chapter 9

After a few days of tension Marsh realised that there truly would be no consequences. The obligators suspected. That much was clear. However, they did not _dislike_ it, as such. Marsh actually got less complaints and more respect. Much like after the first execution.

The Steel Ministry was an odd place.

Elend Venture had not found out. This time, no obligator had passed on their suspicions. Now, to be grateful or annoyed for this… that was a harder question. The problem had, after all, come out of lack of respect for Elend.

The last thing Marsh wanted to do, however, was explain himself to someone with reasonable morals. He could not explain it to himself.

Marsh descended down into the dungeons of Kredik Shaw, the environment thoroughly suiting his mood.

_And I have swapped Sazed’s company for… this._

He walked straight to the vaults of information. As far as spending his limited free time went, it was a poor swap.

Hemalurgy was disturbing. Marsh had taken to simply determining that a file was about Hemalurgy and putting it in the pile to be burnt without reading it. Hundreds of years worth of experimentation. On Mistings, mostly.

_Is this where I would have ended up, if they really had suspected me?_

Marsh shuddered, gritted his teeth, and threw a file in the general direction of the pile. The entire place stunk of burning paper. But it was better than the other smells.

Part of him wondered whether a better solution would simply to be to destroy all of Kredik Shaw. It would be quicker.

But that would be a little obvious. _I would have to explain myself to both Elend and the obligators_. Enough obligators actually _believed_ in the religion that they’d be quite upset. Even if Marsh had been scaling down the number of prayers he bothered to conduct in the old palace, it was still holy to many of them.

_Perhaps we should have destroyed it right away._ However, somehow it would not be Luthadel without Kredik Shaw.

Marsh stood in the vault, silently, listening to the crackle of flames behind him.

Perhaps he should simply focus on finding and destroying the Hemalurgy research, instead of also going over the Inquisitors other information. They kept maps of where they thought one of them had sensed a Misting. Information they could only have from piercing copperclouds. Information that reminded Marsh how poorly he’d protected Mistings in the skaa rebellion.

_We always told them they were safe when we had a Smoker._

How many had died because of that? How many had died walking away from a meeting Marsh himself had led, because he had not been careful enough?

This… this _lair_ , this dungeon of death and torture, this was where they’d ended up. As if the hooks had not been bad enough.

Marsh’s hand tightened around the file he was holding, distorting it, twisting it up. The reinforced cover page tore. Marsh paused, and released his grip.

_I am burning pewter. Instinctively._

A power he had gained _because_ of Hemalurgy.

Marsh turned and flung the file into the flames. Then he turned on his heel and stormed from Kredik Shaw, leaving the flames to burn themselves out. Perhaps the fire would spread. He almost hoped it did.

_______________________

Outside of Luthadel, the Final Empire crumbled.

Marsh grimaced down at yet another report from Venni. Another report of chaos and fighting. It did, of course, give updates on the major players. As well as where the Steel Ministry was hanging on.

In plenty of cities… it wasn’t.

Obligators fled, or were killed. Marsh read those with a kind of fascination. _Sazed once spoke of the unifying power of religion. I do not think this is holding up that well._

However, the Lord Ruler had left the obligators as the ones who actually _prayed._ Nobles… always had had fewer requirements. And the skaa had only ever been required to obey. Perhaps that was why many obligators still believed, but so few nobles.

The nobles simply grabbed power, seizing the opportunity. Friction between the two groups was common.

Earlier in the day, Marsh had instructed Eliar to pass this information onto obligators. He remained certain that stories of disaster in other cities was one of the main things that had kept the obligators in line in Luthadel.

The Inquisitors remained in the Conventical of Seran.

Marsh expected that. _But why? Where does that certainty come from?_

He flipped through Venni’s report, to the few pages, and grimaced. Atium. He’d asked her to search for reports of it. For some reason, it seemed to be _nowhere._ How could the bureaucratic force that was the Steel Ministry be unable to find such a large amount of such value?

_Perhaps I should leave the city and search for it myself._

All indications said it wasn’t in Luthadel, despite opinion throughout the Final Empire.

Both Elend and Vin were getting twitchy about that. Vin had very little atium to fight, and these rumours only led to an increased incentive to approach the capital.

Marsh took out a map Venni had provided him and spread it out over his desk.

_It’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when. And who._ _Which army will be the first to march on Luthadel?_

Not Cett, he suspected. Lord Cett had a large army, certainly, but the dominance he was claiming as his was too unstable. Apparently the Ministry remained strong there and could take it from him. Marsh was sceptical of these reports. Likely propaganda and arrogance.

Obligators, however, did have enough administrative skill to make it work.

_Speaking of making it work…_

Marsh stretched and stood from his desk. The Assembly was about to meet and it was about time Marsh attended.

Reports from obligators were not the same as attending personally. Besides, he was sceptical about those reports too. Surely the Assembly was more functional than they suggested.

The old Canton of Finance building was further from Kredik Shaw than the other Cantons. The separation had made it perfect for the Assembly. And the walk was welcome to Marsh.

Ash fell. It did… more regularly now? Marsh frowned. _Hopefully I’m wrong about that._ History suggested that periods of higher activity from the ashmounts led to difficulties growing enough food.

_More ash and something wrong with the mists. It needs to be investigated. It needs to be investigated from_ outside _Luthadel._

Marsh wound his way through the streets, drawing stares. Stares that were hastily turned into downward gazes if Marsh looked their way. Some of the ones who stared, however, were skaa.

_There is a change. Things may not be perfect. But that is certainly a good change._

He walked up the steps to the Canton building. Not many people headed the same way. _Probably because I’m late._ He should have started walking earlier. It wasn’t as though he didn’t know where the Canton building was.

Marsh sighed and, hearing the murmur of voices within, opened the doors to the Assembly. Which immediately stuttered to a halt.

The person who had been speaking stared in open horror, prompting the rest of the room to turn. Someone cried out.

_Perhaps I should have mentioned I was coming._

Marsh took a sharp left, made a clear negative gesture at Elend’s questioning look, and sat in an empty seat. The seats around him had already been empty, but those nearby still scrambled away.

Elend turned back to a skaa merchant. ‘Please continue.’

‘I… I… I was saying that the laws unjustly reflect on the merchants. Our prices – ‘

‘Are already too high and you know it!’ someone shouted.

‘They don’t support – ‘ the merchant continued.

‘You pander to the nobles,’ one skaa said, angrily. ‘Your prices are meant only for them. We were promised a fair economy, but we can only barely afford the basic things you sell.’

A nobleman rose to his feet and Marsh watched with growing disbelief as the Assembly descended into pandemonium. They shouted their points at no one in particular. They shouted them over each other. They did not listen.

‘Excuse me –‘

That was Elend’s voice. King of Luthadel. No one stopped shouting.

Marsh searched for, and found, Vin sitting beside Elend. She looked decidedly uncomfortable, she met Marsh’s gaze and then looked away. Although whether that was in mutual disbelief or because she wanted to continue to scan for potential assassins, he couldn’t tell. Presumably she expected this. Presumably she attended all such meetings.

Either way, Marsh was sure of one thing. His obligators had not been exaggerating.

Elend waved for quiet again. This time, some of the shouting dimmed, but not enough for Marsh to hear his voice. He could, of course, burn tin. He didn’t want to. He’d heard enough.

_It will settle down eventually. Elend will learn how to gain respect from them._

Or Luthadel would crumble like the cities that surrounded it.

Perhaps this was why the obligators continued to have such contempt for Luthadel’s government.

_______________________

Another dead obligator.

It wasn’t even that it was the first. Nor, at this point, the second. That had happened a week back; a single pewter enhanced blow following yet more lies on the ever elusive atium. And the obligator _had_ been lying, because someone in Resource must know _something_.

The first had been anger. The second frustration at making this work. Because, of course, it had to. Lying obligators _did_ undermine his authority and the atium _was_ necessary. Therefore there had certainly been a reason for it. Some justification.

Three was…

Marsh stared down at the body. He had no idea what it was. He shouldn’t have done it.

Certainly the obligators were the worst part of the Final Empire but they were also – as he had been telling Elend – useful. However, even if they hadn’t been, it did _not_ justify killing them.

_Luthadel must be ruled. They were making it impossible._

True. He would _not_ lose everything the rebellion had worked for because of a few disobedient obligators. But it wasn’t enough.

Marsh had dealt with many antagonistic or downright hostile obligators. This one… he’d been disagreeable. But Marsh knew the dispute could have been fixed.

What was the _matter_ with him?

Never had Marsh had such a short fuse temper and that… didn’t quite describe it. Disturbingly, Marsh wasn’t certain he’d been _angry_ when he’d struck. A little frustrated, this time. Not as annoyed as before. It had just seemed the easiest way, the best way, but those were rarely the same thing.

To make matters worse, the Steel Ministry was mostly staying in line. He’d managed to keep them from giving Elend too much serious trouble. Which was just as well given the barely controlled chaos of the new so-called ‘government’. The obligators did have reason for their most recent barrage of complaints.

It was not, for once, simply petty squabbling. Anyone who’d been to the Assembly could see there was a problem.

Marsh sighed to himself as he took the body out into the night to give to the Mistwraiths. The new government was better than the last. Elend was trying but he lacked… charisma. Marsh had seen Kelsier work crowds enough times to know what it _could_ look like. And didn’t.

But then, he also knew that more than just charisma was necessary. Yeden’s fate was proof enough of that.

Restraint. _Care_ for those you spoke to. And – more vitally – a will to make changes for the better. To help people.

Elend certainly seemed to have that. He had Vin to prop him up, either way. It likely wasn’t good for her to be his assassin and protector but he certainly needed one. And she was by far the most qualified.

Most qualified for killing. Except, perhaps, for him.

Marsh dropped the body into the ash.

If the government and – Lord Ruler forbid – Kelsier’s old crew found out about this it would erode the relationship between them and Marsh and, by extension, the Steel Ministry. Or so he liked to tell himself, as he hid the evidence.

Thankfully, Sazed was not here to find out. The Keeper was surely well into his work teaching the skaa.

Marsh wished him luck. Many of those who worked out there had seen too much, been through too much, to welcome change. He knew well enough they’d see risk and not benefit, and who could blame them? Hopefully Sazed had found those with enough hope and determination to want the knowledge. There were always some.

The mist swirled around, but not too close. Never close, these days.

_Why? I didn’t ask for this._

Marsh reached out a hand and it swirled away from his fingers. Ash started to fall. As it did. As it always had. He watched it settle on the obligators body and then turned back to face Luthadel. It’s spires stood out against the sky. The dark sky, he supposed.

Somewhere in there the Steel Ministry hung on to its power with his help while the new government fought among itself and people questioned the skaa’s right to be involved.

_So this is the fall of the Final Empire._

He turned his outstretched hand palm up and let the ash settle on that too. He was sure Mare’s dream of green plants had hinged on the fall of the Lord Ruler. How, exactly, would that ever happen?

He’d known it as false hope. But _this_ … Marsh was all too aware of the body behind him. It was never going to be easy. Such a major change in the lives everyone had known. Rebuilding.

Time did not seem to lessen the impact. The few months that had passed only brought more news of the hell happening through other cities. The skaa, still damned to die for noblemen.

Luthadel… surely it was going better than it could have. Perhaps others felt that it was. It could just be that his own position… and his own actions, for which he had no one to blame but himself… No. It wasn’t what he’d have envisioned. But it was something. If only it was enough.

If only there wasn’t that persistent feeling that there was something _out there_ to be discovered. If only… if only he….

What was it? This urge to kill?

He’d always disdained Kelsier’s attitude. Now, put in this position, with power over the obligators he hated… Did he have so little control? Was this really what he had spent his life fighting for?

Marsh dusted the ash from his hand and stood staring back at the city for a very long time.

_______________________

‘They are not my opinions, my lord,’ Eliar said, back straight, expression wooden. ‘Merely what you asked me to collect.’

The obligator was expecting to be executed. Marsh stared at the papers with misgivings.

‘I will keep that in mind,’ he promised, and started to read.

Yet the content was fairly straight-forward. The Ministry – all Cantons – was planning for the collapse of Elend’s government. None plotted it directly anymore. They were simply… waiting. The documents seemed to be outlining what the Prelans were planning to do to ensure the Ministry got more power with the next government. And naturally each Canton had a plan to give themselves the most power.

Marsh sighed. ‘And who, exactly, do they expect to rule the city?’

Silently, Eliar handed him another stack of paper.

Marsh set it down to one side. ‘Tell me directly.’

‘Opinions vary, my lord. Some vote that Elend will be assassinated from within the city and if the attackers don’t move fast enough, Penrod will step up to take his place. Some vote that Straff Venture will return to the city – it does seem likely – and still others vote on various nobles trying the same thing. Although, as I said, opinions vary on who.’

‘Anyone specific from within the city?’

Elias hesitated. ‘It’s in the file, my lord.’

‘Yes. Who is it?’

‘Uh. That would be you, my lord. As the most expected candidate.’

Marsh straightened. ‘I am _supporting_ King Venture’s government.’

‘At the moment, yes, my lord. However… many obligators believe you will get tired of these games and… well, execute him, my lord.’

It made an unfortunate kind of sense from the obligators perspective. What else would they expect from an Inquisitor?

‘The feeling is that most of the Ministry would be happier with this change, my lord.’

Interesting. Eliar was not just here to present the information. He too believed Elend’s government would fall – or wanted it to – and was pushing his own agenda. Which, apparently, was Marsh.

‘I will not execute Elend Venture,’ Marsh said.

Eliar bowed his head. ‘Of course not, my lord.’

_He doesn’t believe me._ Marsh skimmed through the file and found that Eliar had been downplaying the extent of that particular rumour. Marsh had got what he’d been striving for, apparently. He had the majority support of the Steel Ministry.

Unfortunately, Elend Venture did not.

The Ministry planned for his fall because they wanted it, and because they _expected_ it. They consensus in these pages was that they did not expect him to last out the year.

And, if he were honest with himself, neither did Marsh.


	10. Chapter 10

He paced the walls of the city, out again at night.

Marsh had started the evening with his all too familiar piles of burning paper in Kredik Shaw. When, once again, he’d felt like destroying more than just paper, he’d escaped out onto the streets of Luthadel. It was night, but that hardly mattered.

Practising Allomancy had been Marsh’s intent. Or so he told himself. Once on the walls, however, Marsh found himself burning only bronze. He paused between the iron gate and the steel gate. About as far from Kredik Shaw as it was possible to get, while still being in Luthadel.

_What will the view look like, once the city is under siege?_

Assuming it got to that. Marsh wasn’t entirely certain that an approaching army wouldn’t find obligators at each gate, allowing them passage for the promise of more power.

Marsh turned his back on the city and stared out over the landscape.

_What does it matter? Luthadel will fall either way. Elend does not have the people to hold it. He… does not have the support to hold it._

The best that they could hope for, perhaps, was that Straff Venture was not the first to march. After reading the Ministry’s file on him in more detail, Marsh was even less impressed. _You would not think him and Elend were related._

Marsh lowered his head, looking down over the wall. It would be easy enough to take one step forward and disappear into the night…

_Important things happen outside the city. You should leave. Your work here is done._

It wasn’t, of course. As long as the Ministry did not support Elend, his work was _not_ done. But it was a hopeless cause. He’d kept them from overthrowing the new king and maintained at least a thin veneer of cooperation. That alone had been a struggle.

_And now… I kill obligators with little provocation. Why? I hate them. I’ve always hated them. Yet… I did not make the decision. I merely acted._

Marsh shook his head, but the motion did nothing to clarify his thoughts. Something was wrong…

_New events are only starting. Beyond Luthadel._

Perhaps the sense of wrongness came from outside Luthadel? Certainly he’d had that impression before. The mists… and the Lord Rulers last words, had they not just been a bluff, did not bode well.

Marsh began to pace, not far each way, keeping his gaze locked on the horizon. If something _was_ out there, then he had to find it but… that did not explain his recent actions.

_You must investigate beyond the city. There is only so much the obligator reports show you, they miss the bigger picture. Everyone is missing the bigger picture._

_Find it._

Marsh dropped a coin off the edge, shifting his weight forward, he kept his eye on the blue line that would be his anchor –

And cursed, jumping back.

That intense _urge_ to leave… certainly he’d thought about it. But not that _strongly_. And not without warning anyone. He led the Steel Ministry. He could not simply disappear off into the night. He didn’t _want_ to! However, the coin he’d dropped off the wall spoke a different story. So did that sense of urgency. That something was _wrong_.

Marsh stiffened, flaring his bronze.

No Allomantic pulses were nearby. Flaring bronze, Marsh wished he could close his eyes, focus _only_ on Seeking…

Even though there was nothing to find.

He could pierce copperclouds. If he sensed nothing then there _was_ nothing. But the feeling remained, just as strong as before. Marsh turned on his own copper. The feeling remained.

He spun, facing Luthadel, but could see no one.

_Perhaps, if piercing copperclouds_ is _down to Allomantic strength… Perhaps if there were more than one Smoker?_

Yet _he_ now burnt copper. Unless there was another Lord Ruler out there, Marsh couldn’t see how it was possible. Vin, could, possibly, _if_ her zinc – or brass – were as strong as her bronze… but Marsh could pierce her copperclouds. He’d tried it, out of curiosity, so he’d know if it was her.

_Besides, what possibly reason would Vin have to want me to leave the city?_

The obvious conclusion: no one was using allomancy on him.

Marsh hissed a breath out through his teeth. So what was the truth then? Was there something going on outside of Luthadel? Was it as important as it felt? How could he possibly know that there was anything to find? He had no evidence.

Neither had he had any evidence that the Inquisitors had gone to the Conventical of Seran. He’d known, however, and Venni had confirmed it as true.

_What kind of sense is that? To be able to know something, yet have no information?_

Something more, perhaps, to do with Hemalurgy?

If so, it could be more specific. Marsh could hardly leave Luthadel on a hunch.

He Pulled the coin back up to the top of the wall. Marsh shook his head again – it did nothing to fix the feeling – and tossed the coin down into the city streets instead. He’d return to Keep Venture. That was a _far_ better plan. He’d store up some health, just in case, and then he would sleep.

Perhaps that was all it was. He was merely tired.

_______________________

Thankfully, he hadn’t left Keep Luthadel the following morning before the summons came to see Elend Venture.

Marsh, grimacing to himself, plodded up the stairs. Whatever it was, it could hardly be good news, and the night’s sleep had not improved his mood. Nor the sense of urgency to leave Luthadel. Surely that meant it really was important. If there was something vital out there to find…

_I must go soon._

If only to find out _why_. If there was nothing to find then so be it. He would wait a little longer, however, if only to be certain the feeling would not vanish again.

Elend Venture ushered Marsh straight in, looking dishevelled and worried. Vin was nowhere to be seen. Hopefully that meant she’d finally realised she needed to sleep.

‘So, um… The Steel Ministry,’ Elend said.

_What else would this possibly be about?_

‘What about it?’ Marsh asked.

‘I…’ Elend had sat back down at his desk, so Marsh sat too. That didn’t seem to ease Elend’s apprehension. ‘I wanted to thank you again for everything you’ve been doing there. You’ve kept them from turning on me and on the city in general.’

‘Thankfully, the High Prelan of Orthodoxy realises the danger of attempting to overthrow you. They were always the highest risk.’

Elend looked puzzled for a moment. ‘What about the Canton of Resource?’

‘Resource don’t have the power of Orthodoxy. Had that been the High Prelan of Orthodoxy with such strong disagreements, it would have been more difficult.’

Marsh had hoped Elend had forgotten High Prelan Riacar. Apparently not. But presumably he still hadn’t heard… other rumours.

‘Okay. So what I’m saying is the obligators don’t openly oppose me, but they _don’t_ support my rule,’ Elend continued. ‘They hold information back at every possible opportunity. I’ve had three obligators this week say they’ve misplaced the information either me or Dockson’s been looking for.’

‘The Ministry is organised. They have not misplaced it.’

‘Now see, I _know_ that, but I can’t prove it. It just isn’t working, Marsh. I need a bureaucracy that will support my government.’

‘Yes, you do.’ Marsh paused. ‘There’s nothing more I can do to make them cooperative.’

And as such there was only one way this conversation could be headed. He couldn’t say he was sorry about it. Complications were a certainty, however.

‘I’m thinking about downgrading the Steel Ministry to a religion only,’ Elend said. ‘Dockson’s already been setting up our own bureaucracy, based on the information we _have_ been getting. So, uh, I was thinking about announcing it soon…?’

‘If you do this you will lose all remaining support from the obligators,’ Marsh said flatly.

Elend winced. ‘Look, I know it’s going to cause problems but I think it’ll solve more. Right from the start you said if there were any issues between my government and the Ministry I should come to you directly. Well, that part’s working. But the Ministry itself just isn’t having the same effect. You said yourself – ‘

‘Lord Venture, I agree with you,’ Marsh interrupted, realising the cause for this rambling speech. ‘I said you will lose the obligators support. You will continue to have mine.’

‘Ah. Oh, well, in that case.’ Elend was visibly readjusting.

Did he think Marsh would oppose him? Perhaps he had. Marsh doubted his support would have much effect at this point.

‘However, once I have dealt with this newest change, I will be leaving the city.’

‘Oh? Why’s that?’

_I don’t know. But I must._

‘To gather information.’

‘And, uh, find out if any of the other Inquisitors are headed to Luthadel?’

_They’re not._ Yet he still had no proof.

‘Yes,’ Marsh said.

‘Good, that’s good,’ Elend said. ‘So should I break the news to the Ministry or do you want to do it?’

Marsh shook his head. ‘You should. I will stand with you in support.’

The question in itself was not promising. Elend should have told Marsh his intentions and perhaps asked for advice. The possibility of him becoming a good king was still there. Just far less likely. Marsh doubted he’d be given the time. Or the resources.

The Steel Ministry’s lack of support was hardly Elend’s worst problem. But it was symptomatic. His government could fall before the first of the armies even marched.

_And what will happen to the skaa then?_

The same that was happening to skaa in other cities, of course. Marsh couldn’t protect them all. He couldn’t protect any of them, realistically. He never had been able to.

It still stung. Overthrowing the Final Empire should not have come to _this_.

_We needed more time_ , Marsh thought as Elend starting talking about times to get the obligators together. _We needed to organise throughout the entire Empire. But we had not even organised in Luthadel._

It seemed everyone would pay the price for Kelsier’s rash actions. And _yet…_ without the Lord Ruler, there was still a chance for the future. The distant future.

Marsh _would_ leave Luthadel. The alternative was watching helplessly as it collapsed.

_______________________

When he woke in the morning a third of the Canton of Inquisition had left the city.

Marsh shot to his feet at the news, his hand falling on his axe handle. ‘They have _what_?’

Eliar cringed. ‘I’m sorry, my lord! They left in the early hours of the morning.’

‘That is not a small operation. This was _planned_.’

‘Yes, my lord. It looks that way.’

‘A _third_ of Inquisition?’ Marsh growled. His spikes were already aching abominably. A side effect, it seemed, of attempting to ignore the itching need to leave the city. Or perhaps a side effect of merely existing.

‘Yes, my lord.’

‘How many from the other Cantons?’

‘None, my lord,’ Eliar whispered, taking a step back. ‘Or rather… small groups only. I’ve asked the Prelans to find out.’

‘Desertion from _within my own Canton_!’ Marsh snarled, and the words seemed to echo back at him from the silent room.

Marsh paused. _From within my own Canton? Lord Ruler! The madness is catching._

He already had one type of madness. He did not need another. Marsh calmed himself with an effort and found that not only was his hand still on his axe handle, but he had also drawn the weapon. _Madness, indeed_. Marsh scowled and put the axe down. Eliar, despite the move, did not relax.

‘Are many more likely to go?’ Marsh asked, in a much moderated tone. He didn’t really need to ask why. As a religion, not a bureaucratic force, the Ministry would have little need for a large policing branch.

‘I don’t think so, my lord,’ Elias said carefully. ‘Those who wanted to… they would not want to delay. Not once one group had left.’

‘And why would that be?’ Marsh asked, not without malice.

Eliar bowed his head. ‘They fear your wrath, my lord.’

_And so do you. That is well. So do I._

‘Where did they go?’

‘I don’t know, my lord.’ Eliar paused. ‘They didn’t leave anyone behind who knew the plan. I can try to find out, but it would take time.’

Of all the people in the Ministry, only Marsh’s immediate contacts knew he intended to leave. He’d felt the need to prepare them. Although why, he wasn’t entirely sure. Luthadel… was only barely stable. The Ministry would not jeopardise that – until an army arrived, of course. But by that time it would be irrelevant.

‘No,’ Marsh said.

‘Would you…’ Eliar hesitated again. ‘Would you like to go after them, my lord?’

_Why? To slaughter them?_

Marsh waved a hand. ‘No. No, they may leave.’

_But I do not wish them well_. It did _not_ make the Ministry look stable and it would _certainly_ lead to fresh tensions between Cantons. Likely, Marsh would spend the next few days doing little else but assessing the damage. Further delaying his own trip out of Luthadel.

_______________________

Marsh went over to the Canton of Orthodoxy himself to assess the extent of the problem.

_This_ could be the worst of the damage. With Inquisition weakened, Orthodoxy would get the benefits. Such an obvious and unquestionable swing of the balance of power could well be all the High Prelan needed to make a move.

He went unannounced and found the High Prelan in the foyer, talking to two other Prelans. As usual, the conversation died at the sight of Marsh.

‘Your office,’ Marsh said, ignoring the bows. ‘Immediately.’

‘Yes, my lord,’ said the High Prelan.

Marsh went first, forcing the man to follow him to his own office. Petty power games. But probably necessary. He didn’t go so far as to make the High Prelan stand for the meeting. So far, after all, he had been reasonable.

‘What is the state of your Canton?’ Marsh asked, taking a seat himself.

‘As requested I’ve been compiling a report,’ the High Prelan said.

‘Answer the question.’

The High Prelan paused and eyed Marsh for a brief moment. His expression was wary. ‘Our numbers are roughly the same. I estimate we have lost no more than ten obligators.’

‘Yes. What is the general feeling?’

‘Unhappy, my lord,’ the High Prelan said. ‘This is not what we were promised.’

‘Circumstances change. Are any of your obligators likely to make their own moves?’ Marsh scowled. ‘And I do not just mean leaving the city.’

‘I know what you mean, my lord.’ The High Prelan’s eyes narrowed. ‘I’m not aware of any plans. I’m sure they know to stay within Ministry policy.’

‘And what is the policy of the Canton of Orthodoxy?’

‘To follow your lead, as always,’ the High Prelan said, not trying to hide the edge to his tone. ‘Despite that this is _not_ what we had discussed. The Steel Ministry clearly has the better skills to be leading this country. I heard… that you had attended an Assembly meeting?’

Was there a way to have this conversation _without_ criticising the Assembly? Marsh thought not.

‘I have.’

The High Prelan’s lip curled. ‘And you still back them to rule this city? There are threats all around. Am I to believe that… that… _group_ will come up with the best plan for Luthadel?’

‘If an army marches on this city I doubt it will matter who is in charge,’ Marsh said, and then winced inwardly. Some truths should not be spoken aloud. Too late to take it back now.

‘I… see.’ The High Prelan actually rocked back in his chair. ‘If the Ministry were given a chance to change that – ‘

‘The Ministry would have no chance of convincing more skaa to train and fight as soldiers,’ Marsh said. ‘What would you be giving them to fight for? You have sat here, aloof in your Canton, and not supported them. They will not fight for you. The garrison will, perhaps, but it is not enough.’

‘Then what…’ The High Prelan looked properly disturbed now. ‘What is your plan, my lord?’

‘My plan? I hope that the armies fight among each other until they are too weakened to attack Luthadel. If you want more, I suggest you pray to your god. We are, after all, a religion.’

The High Prelan stared, then he put his head in his hands. ‘Our god is dead. You helped kill him. This would not have happened… _should_ not have happened...’

Marsh sat silently, feeling _odd_. Not odd in that new way that had been happening recently but odd as in… he felt sorry. For the obligator. Everyone’s life had been upended. Perhaps… perhaps he should have approached this with more sympathy. Providing, of course, that he was still capable of that.

‘I intend to leave the city,’ Marsh said eventually and the obligator raised his head in alarm. ‘If there is an attack before I return, I suggest you take your obligators and leave as well.’

He’d intended to announce his plans along with threats. Now, however...

‘My lord, I –‘

‘It is either that or cooperate fully with King Venture. Should it come to that the time for half measures will have passed.’ Marsh paused again. ‘I will be leaving you in charge of all Cantons.’

‘You will be leaving me to deal with the fall of Luthadel,’ the obligator shot back.

‘So far, no army has marched. It may not come to that, but if it does… Yes. I suppose I am. Perhaps you should count yourself lucky that only the Steel Ministry is your responsibility and not the entire city.’

Marsh stood and left the High Prelan sitting at his desk.

He was too stunned to bow and Marsh didn’t object. It appeared that he understood the situation. All too well, perhaps. At least Marsh could be confident the Steel Ministry would not try to overthrow Elend in his absence.

A few weeks more, to make certain everything was in order.

_Hopefully the city will still be here when I return._

_______________________

Marsh paced outside Luthadel, through the mists, just below the city wall. The urge to simply walk out and keep walking was becoming overpowering. More than just an itch, an almost physical _need_ to leave. Something was important out there. Vital. The certainty was overwhelming.

Flaring bronze, Marsh cursed quietly into the still night.

No one was there. No one was Pulling his emotions to this extreme.

Unless. _Unless,_ there was someone _just_ outside of his range. Someone outside of Marsh’s bronze range, however, would have to be impossibly powerful to still affect his emotions.

_A few days. That is all. Then I can find if there’s any truth to this feeling._

Nevertheless, Marsh burned duralumin with his bronze. Nothing. Undoubtedly, it had to do with the transformation. Really, there was no other explanation. Except, of course, madness and Marsh had carefully ruled that out because _undeniably_ some of the things he’d ‘known’ turned out to be true.

His bronze ran out.

Marsh frowned and swallowed another vial of metals.

Time to head back. Coming out here had not worked to clear his head the way he’d hoped. If anything, it had made the urge to leave _worse_. That could be because of how unwelcome the mists made him now.

Which could be part of the issue. The mists had to be connected to this threat he sensed.

Marsh dropped a coin and jumped back on to the wall, with some grace now. He was getting better. Not necessarily _good_ , but certainly better. Marsh dropped down onto a convenient roof, using iron and steel to cross about half the city, before moving back to street level.

Something about moving through the city as a mistborn still felt wrong. In the same way that using feruchemical gold felt wrong, he supposed. Only at least he didn’t have to conceal the allomancy. Even after months, he had been able to deflect any questions he’d had about Inquisitor healing abilities.

That was certainly easier now Sazed had left. Marsh was certain he and Elend had been trying to find out more about Inquisitors, but Marsh had made sure to have important business elsewhere when they’d starting asking him directly.

It didn’t matter anyway. The other Inquisitors weren’t coming to Luthadel.

Marsh shook his head. _Another of those certainties. If I’m wrong, Elend will be in trouble. Vin cannot fight more than one Inquisitor, particularly if she runs out of atium_.

And there was another reason to leave the city. The atium. Perhaps he could find it and bring it back. Even if he gathered only a little, it would help Vin enormously.

Marsh shook his head again and only then noticed the street wasn’t empty.

A group of five people. Armed, all of them looking at him. Two behind him, people he’d walked past carelessly. Too carelessly. He never would have walked around alone without taking _some_ precautions before. Now… it simply wasn’t as important. People avoided him.

Except not this group.

The five of them closed around him.

‘Are you sure about this?’ one of them muttered to his companion.

‘Just take off the head,’ he replied. ‘The Survivor did it. We know it’s possible. And then we’ll be rid of these things.’

Apparently they were attacking him. An Inquisitor. And not even trying to take him by surprise.

Marsh stared at them incredulously. ‘Go home.’

‘You creatures don’t rule us anymore!’ one of them shouted, and then they attacked as a group, leaving Marsh with barely enough time to assess his situation.

First things first, he burnt bronze. Oh yes. They were Mistings. They didn’t have a smoker, however. But then they weren’t going for surprise. Marsh counted two coinshots, two thugs and a Tineye. Not a lurcher. A _Tineye._ And they were apparently serious about this.

Marsh burnt steel, intending to deflect the two coinshots initial attacks right back at them. To his surprise, he found himself shoved backwards towards the thugs. _Of course_. Because the coinshots were both in front and their combined weight was higher than his.

_Perhaps,_ Marsh thought as he burnt pewter and dodged to the side, _I_ should _have asked to train with Vin, after all_.

Not that it mattered. He had more than a few advantages against even a well-trained group of Mistings like these. Better to end this fight quickly.

The thugs were already moving, both with heavy wooden weapons, making sure that he stayed surrounded. The coinshots went for another volley.

Marsh started his own steelpush, then burnt duralumin. The coins shot back with amazing speed, and only one of the Allomancers managed to get out of the way. The other, peppered with coins, dropped. And the thugs were undoubtedly right behind him. Marsh flared pewter as the duelling cane cracked against his back. And splintered.

It had very little effect on Marsh. In fact he barely felt it. He –

Marsh’s pewter and steel ran out together. He cursed silently. Duralumin. He’d forgotten to extinguish it. And he’d also forgotten about the Tineye.

The obsidian dagger caught him in the side.

The slicing pain was unpleasant, but he’d dealt with worse. Much worse. Marsh tapped his gold reserves, which, given that he’d done very little in the way of healing recently, were plentiful. The wound healed and he dodged away from the Tineye, swallowing a second vial of metals.

_No duralumin unless absolutely necessary._

Marsh twisted to the side and drew his axe, burning iron at the same time. He swung the weapon in a wide arc _and_ Pulled on the Coinshots purse. He stumbled forward and Marsh’s axe caught him in the throat. It caught the second thug in the backswing and Marsh spun to face the remaining Tineye and Thug.

_Kill them._

The Thug was backing off, unarmed, staring with shock at his splintered weapon. Marsh grabbed a handful of coins from the Coinshots purse, Pushed them at the Thug, and burnt pewter as he advanced on the Tineye.

The Tineye ran.

Marsh stared around at the four bodies and the sprayed blood around them, smiled, and gave chase.

No Tineye could run fast enough to lose an Inquisitor and the chase was too short to be completely satisfying. But the slice of his axe was. And the beautiful rain of blood over the street, with the smell of death in the air.

They should have brought more people to seriously take on an Inquisitor. They should have at least made it a challenge, a longer kill. They –

– _had not deserved to die!_

Marsh leapt back from the body, throwing his axe away. That… They… They had been a skaa Misting group. Probably a thieving crew. Hoping to take on the last Inquisitor in Luthadel, the way Kelsier had shown was possible. They had _not_ deserved to die. They had been _skaa_. He had _killed_ skaa.

Worse, he had murdered them. Butchered the Tineye. This had not been self-defence. Other ways would have ended this. Not completely bloodlessly, but he had never even tried to scare them away. Rioting their fear may have been enough. He would never know. He _would_ always know that the Tineye could have lived. The man had been _running away_!

_He_ could have tried running away.

Breathing heavily, Marsh took another step back.

_I can’t… let anyone else find out about this._

Certainly things had been… They’d been different since his transformation. Denying that was pointless. Nothing had been this extreme. There’d been reasons behind the obligators. Not good reasons, necessarily, but solid enough. Not this.

And it was too clearly the work of an Inquisitor.

First Marsh gathered up his axe, and then he turned to the bodies. If he acted quickly, no one would ever know. After all, he’d killed all the witnesses.

_______________________

Marsh paced Kredik Shaw.

The process to create an Inquisitor. How much did he really know about it? Too much. And yet, not nearly enough.

He should have thought of this earlier. He should have forced himself to question it.

All of the Inquisitors had killed often. It had been their job. They’d killed too much, however, for that to be the only factor. They smiled. They’d always smiled. Marsh remembered all too vividly watching as the rest of them had descending on the Lord Prelan. They’d _enjoyed_ it.

What had he thought? Well, previously he’d never questioned it. Inquisitors were not human, after all; they were the hunters of the Final Empire. Its loyal creatures.

But they were chosen from the obligators.

Chosen from the most loyal of obligators. Marsh knew that much; it was the position he’d chosen to take in the Ministry. And they were Mistings, preferably Seekers.

That was one mystery he’d struggled with when he’d been trying to find the information to help defeat them. How could the Ministry find that many Mistborn that were loyal and convert them? He’d been missing the information that they only required Mistings. And perhaps not even Mistings, if they were desperate. He’d thought it answered all his questions.

Yet never in his time in the Ministry had he found a single obligator with the same love of violence as the Inquisitors. And he’d been chosen without displaying it.

That left one, increasingly obvious, explanation. The love of violence was a result of the transformation.

He should have seen it coming.

Marsh paced through the building, once the ominous spectre dominating his life. Kredik Shaw was all but his now. _He_ was the most dangerous thing in Luthadel.

Had any of the others tried to manage it? Perhaps they would have discussed it with him, had they had the time. Perhaps there were ways to mitigate it –

_No. Not perhaps. I_ must _mitigate it._

That was something he must learn how to do alone and quickly. Marsh shuddered. It wasn’t just for his own sake. Nor for the people unlucky enough to be around him. He had more important things to worry about. The wrongness in the world, whatever it was; he was certain it was getting worse.

The Lord Rulers words, the ones he knew still haunted Vin… he couldn’t forget them either. Nor could he fully explain the Lord Ruler’s strength, even with Sazed’s explanation of how feruchemy and allomancy could work together.

Something was coming. And the world, with its new, squabbling governments and monarchs, was not prepared for it.

_He_ was not prepared for it, if he wasn’t even able to handle his new status as an Inquisitor. All that paper in Kredik Shaw… Could it have helped him? Told him more? Surely not. Surely he had not burnt the only information that would help him.

Marsh shuddered, feeling each of his eleven spikes as keenly as he had the night they were pounded into him.

_No. Those files were full of information on Hemalurgy experiments. They were_ not _about Inquisitors._

Nothing down there had been. Then again, perhaps such information had been handed down from Inquisitor to Inquisitor. Perhaps he’d killed the only people who could have answered his questions. Even if those people had been twisted, violent monsters.

_What else could I have done?_

Killing the Inquisitors had certainly felt like the right thing at the time. Perhaps more so, now. Marsh doubted they’d have stopped killing, even once the Lord Ruler was dead. Eight of them working together, could have massacred half the city.

_Or would that have been nine…_

Marsh nearly doubled over from the pain in his spikes. He needed to rest. He needed to… leave.

He’d stayed far too long. If he’d left when the feeling to leave had become urgent, then that Misting crew would still be alive. _Something_ important was out there, somewhere in the ruins of the Final Empire and he needed to find it. While he was searching, however… perhaps he could find information on Inquisitors. Perhaps, if not in Kredik Shaw, they kept such information _somewhere_.

_I thought I understood Hemalurgy. I do not. I_ must _find out why this is happening._

Certainly he needed to go. He had to remove himself from the city, from other people.

_I can’t let this happen again._

Remaining here for a few more days was out of the question now. He would take what he’d already packed and leave in the night.

Marsh spun on his heel, then hesitated. He did not want to explain _why_ he was leaving early to Elend and certainly not to Vin. But disappearing would only add to uncertainty in the city.

_Simple. I will tell the guards on duty to pass on a message_.

Marsh shouldered his pack, cast a last glance over the empty palace of the Final Empire, and stepped back out into the mists.


	11. Chapter 11

Marsh ran.

The direction did not matter. He went _far_ from Luthadel. Whatever he searched for it was not in the Central Dominance. The answers he sought…

What answers, precisely were those?

Not just about him, certainly. What was the looming threat he sensed?

The night was surprisingly clear. No ash drifted down, although Marsh found himself missing it. There was something… pleasant about the ash. Beautiful? No, surely not. It stained everything. Perhaps he was merely used to it.

He was, finally, clear of the Ministry. Of the city. Of his own behaviour.

Out of the city walls Marsh could see for miles, even through the mists. The mists. The changed was more pronounced now, with no city around him. It _did_ avoid him. The mist… disliked him.

What _was_ that? Another form of madness? No, because it did pull away from him. A real change had happened and Marsh was… unclear on whether it had happened after his transformation or after the Lord Ruler’s death.

Marsh paused, swallowed more pewter, and kept running.

The Lord Ruler’s death had changed many things, but the mist? Perhaps. His dying words had suggested he held something back. His dying words could also have been a misguided attempt to save himself.

_Go east._

Marsh changed his heading. If this… urgency and the Lord Ruler’s words were connected he _must_ investigate that. After all, Ministry doctrine praised the Lord Ruler for one thing above all others: defeating the Deepness.

Whatever that had been, and certainly _that_ was unclear, a return would be devastating.

More devastating than a single Inquisitor in Luthadel, slowing losing control… Which _also_ needed investigating. He _would_ find out why. He would fix it. He could not continue ignoring it.

Marsh continued. Running far away from Luthadel.

_______________________

Something vital was out here in the outer reaches of the Eastern Dominance. Marsh had arrived in the middle of the night after… he supposed it counted as a pewter drag. He hadn’t run for long, but he never could have travelled so far so fast without it. Now he simply stood. The mists swirled, pulling slightly away from him, and the sun peaked over the horizon.

Marsh waited. Nothing obvious revealed itself.

_Perhaps I was wrong to come out here._

That would mean a waste of a lot of time and effort, if it was the case. Except it still felt so important. Whatever caused that feeling – and he was certain now it wasn’t emotional allomancy – he had to see if it was trustworthy. He had to know.

Marsh frowned to himself. There was something _off_ about the morning, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Marsh swallowed bronze and burnt it. Nothing, off course; no one else would lurk this far out in the middle of nowhere. He burnt tin. Also nothing of note, so he extinguished the tin.

The mists pulled further away when he burnt metals. Marsh scowled, and froze.

The mists.

He couldn’t see them, but he could definitely still sense them. The sun was well above the horizon and still the mists remained. Impossible. Mists did not come during the day.

Nevertheless. There it was. This was not fog; Marsh could not see fog, nor sense it. He could only feel the increased dampness in the air. This, this was _mist_.

And it hated him just as much during the day as it did at night.

Not that that meant anything in particular. Hating him was not an irrational position to take. Not in the last year, anyway. And the mist had always been pleasant before that. Yet, it hadn’t felt sentient in the same way, either. If those days following becoming an Inquisitor were not so much of a blur he’d be able to pin down the change better. The very idea that this change could be related to the Deepness…

Marsh frowned, turning in a small circle. The mist was all around.

_The Lord Ruler told you he did more than you knew about. This is a sign of something else beginning._

It… was a very bad sign.

Of what, Marsh wasn’t certain. But whatever was beginning it was bigger than anything he’d faced before. If this was only the start… Perhaps it wasn’t just him the mist hated. Perhaps when the Lord Ruler had died there had truly been a change. Some theories did suggest the Deepness was the mists themselves.

But that was only speculation. He needed more information. How many places was this happening? Not everywhere, for Marsh surely would have noticed if the mists had lurked in daylight in Luthadel.

He stayed standing still at the outer edges of the Final Empire until the mists finally dissipated. Which turned out to be well into the day. This needed immediate attention.

Perhaps the Ministry had more information on the mists than he’d been able to work out. He would have to find out. He’d come across nothing at Luthadel. Cities further out could have different information. Mist during the day could have happened before, if rarely.

It was not, Marsh told himself as his feeling of unease grew, entirely impossible. Merely very unlikely.

_______________________

He was greeted with shock. Unsurprising. The other Inquisitors had not spent much time at their respective posts before retreating to the Conventical of Seran.

Regardless, Marsh ignored the gasps and occasional bows and strode into the Canton of Orthodoxy. In a small city, but a city nevertheless, he expected he’d find the information he needed here. Nowhere else held records like the Steel Ministry.

‘I require your records on the mists and the Deepness,’ Marsh said to the first prelan he saw.

The man gaped at him.

‘ _Now,_ ’ Marsh growled, burning zinc and Rioting the man’s urge to obey.

‘Yes, my lord!’ The prelan fled.

The files he returned with were scant. Marsh skimmed through and then tossed them on the nearest desk. Here, there was no reason for the prelan to mislead him and yet this was _not_ enough.

‘Where are your archives?’

‘In… in the basement, my lord. But this is all we have on the Deepness!’

Marsh stared at him until he shrank back. ‘Show me to them.’

‘Yes, my lord,’ the prelan whispered.

He led Marsh through corridors and staircases much like those in Luthadel, only less ostentatious. Certainly these buildings lacked the large stained glass found in Luthadel. Obligators bowed then hurried out of the way as Marsh strode past.

It felt familiar. Marsh swallowed down rage, the source of which he could not quite pin down.

Yet once in the archives that was quickly replaced with boredom. Marsh did not have time to read anything that might otherwise be of interest and the Steel Ministry… he’d spent his life studying it but it was collapsing now anyway. A few years ago he’d have given anything for even this much access. Pointless now.

That this city even had a working Canton was something of a rarity. Marsh had passed at least one town where they’d burnt their Canton building. He’d stopped to watch.

This place might as well have been burnt too for all the good it gave him.

The Deepness, defeated by the might and power of the Lord Ruler their eternal God… All the same doctrine he’d read at Luthadel. All the same doctrine he’d meticulously collected to be as best informed as possible for his infiltration.

Propaganda. Words without substance.

And he was _tired._ So very tired…

He’d sleep outside the city. Certainly he wasn’t going to force anyone to offer an Inquisitor hospitality. Not even obligators, although presumably there was a protocol for this. Lodgings made _for_ Inquisitors... even less appealing. Although undeniably appropriate.

Marsh gave up on the archives. There was, however, one more thing he needed to investigate here.

Marsh turned to the Prelan and made a curt gesture for him to approach from where he’d been hovering anxiously. ‘Where would I find the Canton of Inquisition?’

He’d found Orthodoxy easily enough, and passed Finance too, but the Inquisition building had not been obvious.

The Prelan swallowed. ‘We don’t have one here, my lord.’

No Canton of Inquisition in the city. Therefore no information on Inquisitors and certainly not of Hemalurgy.

Marsh stood and left the archives. The prelan hurried after him, but Marsh made straight for the exit.

‘My lord!’ The prelan called. ‘My lord! Are you not staying? We… we’ve been waiting for guidance, for instructions…?’

‘No.’ Marsh paused in the entrance way. ‘I am not staying. Find your own guidance. Make your own instructions. The Lord Ruler is dead.’

_______________________

The table splintered as it hit the floor. The satisfying sound echoed around the room. Marsh moved on to a chair.

He’d once hid a note in a table leg; perhaps the Inquisitor who’d resided here had done the same.

Only one Inquisitor – long gone now – had been posted in this town. A reminder of the Final Empire’s power and a convenient enforcer to the nearby areas. Luthadel was too far away to be a practical base for policing this area.

Marsh shattered a second chair after examining the remains of the first.

An Inquisitor would have no need to hide official information. But an individual person? Yes. Particularly concerning personal information, or Hemalurgy, or both… the documentation of a change perhaps… Yes, an individual might hide less official notes. And the Inquistors were still individuals, weren’t they? _Weren’t they?_

Marsh clenched his hands into fists. He _would_ find evidence of it. He would tear this place apart if that was what it took.

In the floor below him, something moved.

Marsh stopped, listening. All the Ministry buildings here were deserted; some had been plundered long before Marsh arrived. Not the Inquisitor’s residence though.

He burnt tin.

Yes, the building was no longer empty. He could hear people approaching, could even here the cadences of their whispers, but not quite the words.

Tin. Of all the metals Marsh despised using tin. The goldmind was bad enough, given all the harm done to the Terris people, but tin… Mare had been a Tineye. That should _not_ make it any more personal; Mare had not died for an Inquisitors spike and _still_ …

Marsh extinguished the tin again, frustration welling up in his chest like a living thing.

Who approached? What could they possible want with _him_? He burnt bronze and felt nothing.

The first person appeared in front of him and froze. So they’d heard him, but not necessarily _seen_ him. Marsh stared back impassively, standing in the middle of the thoroughly destroyed room.

A scuffle behind him and something cracked across Marsh’s back.

Marsh gritted his teeth, and turned. Two people stood behind him, one still holding the length of metal used to hit him. Both had truly petrified expressions and had Marsh been burning tin he would have _known_ they’d come up behind him.

‘Run!’ the man in front of him yelled and made the mistake of trying to hit Marsh a second time.

Marsh burnt pewter and caught the bar in one hand, swinging the axe in the other – _when did I draw that?_ – blood sprayed out in a long arc. The second person in front of him managing a gasp before Marsh’s axe took his head off.

The other man was long gone. Marsh briefly considered going after him and instead contented himself with swinging his axe repeatedly into the two bodies. Until blood decorated the room every bit as thoroughly as the splintered wood.

Marsh stopped, breathing heavily, surveying his handiwork.

Blood… everywhere. He… didn’t even know who they’d been. Couldn’t even remember whether their now destroyed clothes had been noble or skaa.

Nausea rose far too late to do any good and Marsh breathed through his mouth, letting the axe slide to the floor. His knees hit the floor shortly after.

_No._

_Please._

He’d told himself no more.

And the blood… it still looked… beautiful…

If only he could close his eyes. Block it out. Yet denying it would change _nothing_.

Apparently attempting to fix himself also changed nothing. Marsh wanted to weep, but that, too, was beyond him now.

_______________________

Marsh had taken… not a break, so much as a few days out of investigating Ministry buildings to gain more information on the day mists. Certainly it was happening and perhaps getting worse, but it was far more prevalent in the outer limits of the Final Empire.

Was it noticeable yet it Luthadel? Was the slight changes what he’d detected, that had made him so uneasy?

Marsh thought not. That was… something else. That odd Inquisitor certainty remained as strange a phenomenon as everything else he investigated.

Realistically, he knew this new town was unlikely to provide any new leads.

The town had been all but destroyed by rampaging Koloss. Marsh strode through the empty streets. It’s people were long gone. Many would not have got out, of course, but there were few enough bodies to suggest they’d had some warning.

Exactly the sort of place he’d been looking for.

It had a Ministry building that had been used by both Orthodoxy and Inquisition, rare enough in larger cities, but such a small place rarely even had a presence of both.

Koloss were unlikely to have taken information from the building. That was not how they operated. So. Another place to search and this time blessedly empty.

_Necessarily_ empty, these days. He could not be trusted around people.

Surely there was a way to curb this. To, if not fix it entirely, at least prevent it from getting worse. The other Inquisitors… they’d know. They would know. Perhaps they could even help, although Marsh found it hard to imagine.

Certainly there was no evidence any of _them_ had ever tried to fight it.

But… perhaps they had. At first.

He shivered.

_No. No. There must be a way._

How could he work out this problem with the mists, this possible return of the Deepness, if he could no longer trust himself? The only thing he had left was the random beliefs. The flashes of odd knowledge that had led him to discover that the mists came during the day.

Both had to be a side-effect of becoming an Inquisitor, surely. It seemed a harsh trade. Yet if the Deepness was as bad as Ministry doctrine claimed…

Perhaps the Inquisitors had been part of the tools the Lord Ruler used to defeat it.

In which case killing eight of them was possibly not the good move it had seemed at the time. Although the same could be said of the Lord Ruler himself and Marsh could not bring himself to regret that. Not yet, in any case.

The Ministry building was smaller even than Marsh had expected. The squat building sat near the centre of the town, where you’d expect, but aside from that it did not _look_ exactly promising. Plain and unassuming, Marsh wondered at first if he had found the right place.

Inside, it clearly belonged to the Steel Ministry. The layout, the strict organisation… it varied only slightly, even between Cantons. This place, although small, was what he was looking for. Marsh sighed, grimaced to himself, and went to find some files.

And he found them.

Records of the town. Stacks of them. Births, deaths, marriages. Only very basic Ministry doctrine on the Deepness. Nothing _new_.

Marsh growled softly under his breath and strode to the Inquisition section.

More files. Even less information. And all of it _useless._ They had not even had an Inquisitor visit for many, many years.

Too small. Too unimpressive. Not likely to be dealing with serious business here.

When it really came down to it, he’d have expected to find the information he needed in Luthadel. Surely the important information had been stored in the capital. Yet he’d seen no sign of it there.

All the information on the Deepness was vague. And the only place he’d ever seen the world _Hemalurgy_ mentioned was in Kredik Shaw. Even _that_ had been experiments. Not known effects on the Lord Ruler’s pet monsters. And they _were_ known effects. Was it not _documented?_ In the Steel Ministry, that so liked to keep records?

Perhaps. But not here. And not in Luthadel.

So where? _Where?_

Marsh slammed a hand into the desk.

_Go to the Conventical of Seran._

Marsh paused. Yes. If Kredik Shaw had had some notes of Hemalurgy experiments, they’d certainly implied more. And where else but the Conventical of Seran? An Inquisitor place; if there was information to discover it would surely be there.

However, so were many Inquisitors.

….or so _had_ been the remaining Inquisitors. Marsh had a feeling that he would no longer find them there.

No, not just a feeling. He _knew_ it.

Was that good? On the face of it, yes; obviously it was good. Yet… he needed to talk to another Inquisitor. Someone who had experienced what he was experiencing. Someone who knew what to expect…

Another Inquisitor was, however, unlikely to cooperate with him. And if he somehow knew their movements, did they also know his?

Marsh frowned.

_Does it matter?_

If they found him, so be it. He had questions, after all.

_Take Sazed with you. The Terrisman must go to the Conventical of Seran._

What? Marsh massaged his temples in an attempt to ease the familiar headache. Take Sazed? Where had that thought come from? Take a Terrisman into an Inquisitor stronghold?

He shrugged. It was, perhaps, not as bad an idea as it seemed.

Sazed should not be out on the edges of society during this time. Deepness or not, something stirred, and Sazed’s skills would be immensely valuable. Better, he had loyalty to Elend and Vin. If Luthadel still stood… If it was still in their power, then they needed Sazed.

Taking him to the Conventical first was perhaps a risk, yet back up would surely be needed if Marsh’s odd certainties turned out to be incorrect. Sazed had taken on Inquisitors before. Between the two of them, they could possibly escape alive.

And someone had to take the news of the mists to Luthadel. It could not be Marsh.

He would not, he _could not_ , integrate himself back into society. Not until he found some answers, at least.

If the Conventical did not hold those answers, then Sazed could take the information on Marsh’s behalf. Perhaps Sazed would even have seen the day mists.

Yes. Marsh would find Sazed and hopefully some answers to _both_ of his puzzles.


	12. Chapter 12

For all the Inquisitors’ famed ability to track people, Sazed proved quite elusive.

Of course, Marsh knew that particular rumour to be based on the Inquisitor’s enhanced Seeker ability. Sazed, however, did not use Allomancy. Therefore finding whether or not Sazed was in a skaa community required asking. This… did not go over particularly well.

Marsh gritted his teeth and stuck with it, approaching the nearest skaa hovel in each case. No need to force more contact that strictly necessary. Still, not all communities were able to produce a worker who would speak with Marsh. That was… fair, he supposed. In the end, Marsh trusted that were Sazed in any of those villages he would at least come out to investigate the disturbance.

_Perhaps I won’t find him_.

He needed to. And yet…

Many things had changed since he’d last seen Sazed. Few of which he was willing to discuss.

The mists, yes. That he could – and _must_ – talk about. But what else? Nothing. And given that he could not trust himself…

Marsh shook his head. This community, too, seemed to be closing up on his approach. Except… one woman approached, walking boldly towards him, her chin lifted in defiance.

‘What do you want from us?’ she demanded, stopping a few paces away, fear gleaming in her eyes.

‘Information,’ Marsh said simply. ‘I look for a Terrisman. He would have been looking to teach farming methods.’

Her jaw set. ‘Why?’

Marsh tilted his head, unsure of the question.

‘Why do you seek him?’

_I am a friend._ That would surely not be believed.

‘I bring him information.’ Marsh stared at her brave, terrified face, and had the urge to simply leave. Sazed was not here. No further need to force her to face him.

‘To a Terrisman.’ She was doing well not to shake.

Marsh forced down the urge to Soothe her. To make this at least a little easier. ‘Yes.’

She kept right on staring at him. Marsh would have counted himself lucky to have met her years before; such a person would be a serious asset to the skaa rebellion.

Now, though… He gave up, turning his back to go.

‘Wait.’

Marsh paused.

‘He is south of here.’ The skaa woman paused again. ‘He does no harm. Not by the new rules coming out of Luthadel.’

‘I know.’ Marsh said, still with his back to her. ‘Thank you.’

He left swiftly.

_______________________

Sazed was indeed in the area Marsh had been promised. And his company every bit as uncomfortable as expected.

Sazed had even been… resistant to leaving his work. Yet he too had seen the mist during the day and further claimed people had died in it. Marsh simply nodded to that last part. Yes. It was certainly possible; in fact, he founded it likely in this new mist with its ever growing hostility.

They reached the Coventical of Seran quickly and mostly silently despite Sazed’s attempts to spark conversation.

Marsh said only what he needed to. The unseen danger drew closer, and more urgent than ever.

Walking through the Conventical was like walking down a city street on a summer day with no ash falls. Nowhere Marsh had visited since his transformation had been quite so sharp, so clear, so _obvious._ Here, he had nothing he had to puzzle through. This place had been _made_ for him. Or, at least, the way he saw now.

Sazed did not like the place. Given the massacre they’d found, perhaps that wasn’t surprising. But the massacre itself had hardly been surprisingly either. Inquisitors would not leave their prisoners alive once they were finished with them.

Marsh suspected many had been Mistings, and had been spiked through the heart before death. He did not share this observation with Sazed. Perhaps the other Inquisitors had grown stronger. Perhaps not. It made little difference. They were already assumed to be powerful.

He’d left Sazed in the lower levels, where he couldn’t stumble on the information Marsh sought. The way the Feruchemist had looked at him recently… it was different. But then, so was Marsh. Neither was a good change.

_Perhaps here I’ll find the answers._ To the mist? Or to himself? _Preferably both._

At least up here, he couldn’t here Sazed documenting the place. They’d argued the point about the Steel Ministry before, it was true, but Inquisitors? Best forgotten. Marsh was certain of that now.

No, he was glad to have left Sazed below. And yet… the room in front of him was empty. The one before it had been the same.

And there could be no doubt. With its metal surfaces and clean lines, Marsh would have noticed anything still here. The place had been cleaned out.

The only thing that remained was the bodies in the level below.

_Nothing_.

He passed through another corridor; although they were all beginning to look the same. Another room contained desks and shelves. There _had_ been information here. Files and records as well as dungeons and torture chambers. All gone now.

Marsh growled softly under his breath.

_How am I meant to find out what is coming if they’ve taken everything with them?_

Surely they knew something. Surely they were headed north (but not to Luthadel) for a reason? Perhaps they knew only what he did; that they must.

The Inquisitor stronghold, his best chance for answers. Empty.

Marsh stalked through the rooms. Something. There had to be something there, something they’d forgotten, missed… but they had not left hastily, had they? No. This was meticulous. Thorough. The Inquisitors – and whatever obligators had been there with them – had taken everything with them.

Or worse, they had destroyed it.

No acid tang of burning paper remained in the air – Marsh certainly would have recognised it – but how long would it have lingered? Perhaps they’d destroyed it all outside in the vast creator.

Marsh curled his fingers around his axe, then forcefully let go.

_That_ was the problem. Why was _that_ his instinct now?

_I have to know. I_ must _find answers._

Yet there were no answers to be found. Not in any Canton building in any town or city. Not in Luthadel, the capital, centre of the Lord Ruler’s power and not even _here_ , in the Inquisitor stronghold.

Nothing about the Deepness either. No clues.

_And something is coming…_

The threat was closer now. Far closer. And Marsh was wasting time.

Was his own situation, his own disturbing transformation, worth risking… potentially _everything_? No. Of course it wasn’t.

_You must leave_.

Marsh strode out through the rooms. The echoing, _empty_ rooms.

_Go quickly. Go now._

He should have directed Sazed straight back to Luthadel. He should not have come here on this fool’s errand. What was happening, it was centred around Luthadel, he was certain of that now. And the day mists crept ever closer…

_Leave!_

Marsh took the stairs two at a time.

Sazed remained below in the lowest levels of the Conventical and he’d found something. A plaque of some sort. Perhaps interesting enough, but _not_ worth further delays. Yet he wanted to read it _here_ , translate it _here_. Unacceptable.

Finally, Sazed was persuaded to merely take a rubbing, for later translation.

Marsh gritted his teeth as it was done, then ushered Sazed from the building.

_______________________

Each day out of the Convectical tested his patience further. Sazed did not travel slowly, by any means. He’d done plenty of travelling recently and in other circumstances would have made a perfectly acceptable travelling companion. In other circumstances, Marsh might even have found interest in the rubbing Sazed had taken. The one he was clearly itching to remove and continue to read.

Yet Marsh simply did not care about it.

They could not get to Luthadel fast enough. Even though he had learned _nothing._ Surely there was more he could learn yet about the mists, about whatever major event was coming. It would affect the entire world…

As a result he found himself talking little. Sazed might have minded. Marsh didn’t know. He tried to care, though. The work Sazed did should have been important, it was simply that events made it… redundant.

Ash fell frequently. Too frequently. He was right about that too; it was increasing. Marsh spent his evenings staring out across the landscape; across the ash, trying to figure it out. All his attempts to gather more information had been _useless_.

And so many had died for them.

‘Marsh?’

He didn’t turn. He did not wish to talk.

‘Marsh, I assumed you would still be in Luthadel,’ Sazed said. ‘The Steel Ministry – ‘

‘Has been removed as the bureaucratic power behind Elend’s government. I was no longer required there.’

Clearly Sazed was distracted by the rubbing. Perhaps Marsh should direct his attention to it. Questions like these… Marsh didn’t like where they could lead.

Sazed was quiet for a moment. ‘As king, I believed Elend could do with some support. He was… struggling. I had said as much to my people. Had anyone arrived, do you know?’

‘A Terrisman? Not before I left.’

‘A Keeper,’ Sazed said.

‘Then no.’

‘Ah. If you believe I could be of help, why is it that you left the city? You had some experience in command, I think.’

Marsh kept his back to Sazed. ‘Elend sent people out across the empire. He wished to know of events outside of Luthadel.’

‘That does make sense. What of such events? Things did not look good when I left.’

Finally, Marsh moved to face him. ‘They have only got worse. And the mists… they do not help.’

‘No,’ Sazed agreed, looking troubled.

He had yet to understand the extent of the problem, but he would. They all would. And soon.

Marsh slept poorly that night. Ideally, he would have spent the time filling his goldmind, since sleep was elusive. Not around Sazed. If anyone would spot feruchemical gold in action, it would be a Terris keeper. It was now only one of many things Marsh did not want to – and would not – talk about. And Sazed was already on his way to Luthadel. There was no reason to stay.

Silently, near morning, Marsh rose from the camp. He left Sazed asleep. Perhaps it would even be better that he woke and found he no longer needed to travel with an Inquisitor.

And this way no one would know when Marsh arrived back in Luthadel.

_______________________

He was late arriving back at Luthadel. He’d taken his time.

Another detour, to yet another city, to find that no one could answer his questions.

It hardly mattered now. Whatever threat had been coming, it was almost here, and Marsh had important work to do. He could feel it. His own… situation truly would have to wait.

A minor detail stood in his way.

The Koloss army spread out before him, thousands and thousands of the creatures, looming out of the mist. They could only be headed to Luthadel.

Marsh surveyed it in cold silence. His city, his home, would undoubtedly fall to these creatures. The walls would not hold them out. How many defenders did Elend have now? Not enough.

_Everyone in the city will die._

Or, at least, most of them. He could do nothing to save them.

Yet, he was still headed to Luthadel. He must go back. Go back and… fight, perhaps? Against this army? No. That was not the threat he faced. Something else lurked, the mists… probably the Deepness although, despite his efforts, he was still unable to pin it down.

Unfortunately, there was an army of Koloss in the way. How far around would he have to go for them to ignore him?

_They will let you pass_.

Marsh paused. Yes, that would be much more convenient. He began walking again, directly at the koloss.

He approached blatantly. Even through the mists they must have seen him. Marsh stopped in front of the first creature he saw, staring at it. Assessing it.

Far from the biggest in the army, it still towered over him, its skin sitting loose from its body. It carried a large sword and a pouch and it was ignoring him entirely.

Marsh frowned at it.

Then he stepped forward. It moved out of his way, barely sparing him a glance. The next one did the same, and the next. Marsh strode on, straight through the centre of the army, ignored by the horrific creatures even as he saw them tearing each other apart. He saw the tent, and its human occupants, and did not approach. They would not see him through the mists.

Even if… yes. The mists were less within the army. They swirled away from the koloss, much the same as they did to Marsh himself.

_So. I am considered to be in the same category as such creatures._

He shook his head. The mists were surely not capable of such classifications. And yet the reaction was the same.

Marsh walked on between the tall, violent, monsters. Nearby, a larger one descended on a smaller one as it slept, cutting it to pieces. No, the mists weren’t capable of classifications, but nevertheless… Perhaps it was an accurate category.


	13. Chapter 13

The obligators were noticeably absent. Marsh hadn’t been searching for them, as such, but he had taken the opportunity to scour the Canton of Orthodoxy for information he might have missed – at night, of course. In an ever repeating pattern, he’d found nothing of use.

Not much sign of recent activity either.

Three armies sat poised outside the walls. Perhaps the High Prelan had taken Marsh’s advice and fled.

Marsh retreated back to Kredik Shaw for the daylight hours. It was, after all, the home of the Inquisitors. There he waited.

_Do not make contact._

No. He was far passed that. He had come back, but with precious few answers, and with the threat almost upon them. The koloss, also. When they attacked – and they would - the result would be disastrous.

_Wait for Vin._

Marsh sat in the room that had briefly been assigned to him as an Inquisitor. Why Vin? It hardly mattered. And perhaps he should have expected that. Vin had killed the Lord Ruler, she’d heard his last words and… hadn’t he seen the mists twisting away from her, too?

Yes. He had. Strange how that had slipped his mind.

Was she in the city now? No, he didn’t think so. It was her return, then, that he waited for.

He burnt bronze and copper. He’d know of the approach of an Allomancer, but they would not detect _him_. Except Vin of course.

An odd talent, certainly, he could attest to that. No doubt it had served her well. It _did_ seem as though Elend still ruled, in a doomed city under siege, but nevertheless no small achievement. Perhaps Elend really would have grown into a good king, in better circumstances.

Marsh shook his head. Opportunities wasted. The best hope of the Final Empire was going to be overrun by monsters.

_We should have been more prepared…_

Yet if some unimaginable threat loomed ever closer, what possible difference would it have made?

None, of course. He would stay in Luthadel until Vin arrived. It would be easy enough to go unnoticed in _this_ climate… fear and chaos and the looming threat of destruction would obscure the importance of an Inquisitor even if he was seen.

Good. It left him precious little to do, however, stuck in Kredik Shaw with its burnt records and empty halls.

Precious little, but not nothing at all. Marsh settled down to fill his goldmind.

_______________________

The koloss were finally in the city. Well, it had been coming. Marsh stood quietly at the window, watching out over Luthadel as it was overrun.

_No one will survive this. I could… help._

With his Allomancy, Marsh could presumably hold off enough koloss to allow groups of people to flee. Particularly as the koloss had not attacked him before. He swayed towards the exit.

_You will wait for Vin’s return._

Yes. There was that. Whatever he did in the city, he could not save it. The majority of its people would still die and what right did _he_ have anyway, to act as a saviour? None. That was not his role. But he could be here when Vin returned and… Marsh shook his head. Why did not matter. It only mattered that he _must_.

He turned from the window and paced the halls. Even without burning tin, the screams from outside were loud. No one approached Kredik Shaw; they still saw it as a place of danger, of death. They were right.

Marsh wandered deeper into the palace.

_And so Luthadel falls. Which tyrant will win it, I wonder? Which tyrant will be the next to enslave the skaa?_

Presuming, of course, that the other threat – so close Marsh could almost _taste_ it – did not destroy everything. Anyway, the new ruler would undoubtedly be easier to overthrow. No one could be harder to remove than the Lord Ruler. Perhaps Marsh himself could make sure that it happened… once he’d carried out his duties here.

A crash came from outside. Perhaps there would be nothing left of Luthadel to save.

But surely there had to be. Vin had to be coming back for a reason. She would come back and she would come into Kredik Shaw and Marsh would let her pass. Without revealing himself, of course. How could he explain his presence here? How could he explain he’d done nothing to help, when he failed to understand it himself?

_Too late now. The city has fallen._

Marsh walked around in the centre of Kredik Shaw, pacing. The sounds of his home breaking were less here. Almost bearable.

He didn’t bother to try and guard the entrances from the rampage. The koloss would not enter Kredik Shaw.

Marsh couldn’t explain that, either.

_I cannot explain anything, anymore. I must simply move forward._

Or, as things stood, continue to _wait_. Effectively doing nothing. _Continuing_ to do nothing. While the battle outside… lessened? Marsh paused, listening. Had the koloss worked off their bloodlust so soon? They had certainly not been beaten.

He hesitated, then strode off again, with purpose this time. Back to the window.

_I_ must _know what’s going on out there._

And yet. And _yet_. He did know. Somewhere deep down in his soul he’d known and he’d been listening for the battle to end. Vin had arrived in the city.

Marsh stared out the window, leaning forward. The koloss attacked no longer. Exactly how that matched Vin being in the city, he was unsure, but it certainly did. He breathed out slowly. Luthadel had not been fully destroyed. Damaged, yes, but it could survive yet. It _would_ survive yet.

He only had to wait a little longer. A day or so, perhaps.

Vin was in the city; soon she would be in Kredik Shaw.

_______________________

_Get up._

Marsh came alert suddenly. He had been sitting, filling his gold mind, but now he released it, standing. It was time. The anticipation was almost overwhelming, making his heart hammer in his chest, his breath come faster. Whatever it was he was here to achieve, whatever vital function would prevent the Deepness from returning, now was the time to do it. And it was linked with Vin.

He left the odd room, the one Mare and Kelsier had been trying to reach, so many years ago. Perhaps this would bring about the world Mare had always believed in. Perhaps it would bring those changes that had not happened with the Lord Ruler’s death.

_Do not be seen._

Marsh stepped around the room, out of site from the direction Vin was approaching from. He couldn’t see her, but she _was_ coming. He’d have sensed her with bronze, but Marsh burnt no metals. Vin could, after all, pierce copperclouds.

_You must know when she’s entered._

Plenty of places in Kredik Shaw provided sight lines into other rooms – Marsh had made use of them many times now – but none allowed him to see into that one stone room. Watching its entrance would have to be enough. He circled around through Kredik Shaw, settling himself into an appropriate spot. Had the Inquisitors watched Mare and Kelsier approach from here? Or had they already been in position outside the room?

Marsh shook his head to clear it, and Vin came into sight. He sat up straight. She was not alone.

_Let them pass. Let them all through._

So Elend, Spook and Ham would be allowed to accompany her. Wherever it was she was going. That room was a dead end; Marsh knew that well. He’d searched Kredik Shaw for the atium. It felt like a lifetime ago.

Elend Venture. He looked different now. More… in control; more commanding. Hopefully not too little too late. Perhaps Elend could still be the king Luthadel needed.

The group entered the room. Barely seconds later it shook; an almighty crash echoed through Kredik Shaw.

Marsh stood. _What was that?_

Clearly nothing to be alarmed about. He felt no desire to rush. This was… expected. Everything was going to plan.

Marsh walked back to the room, entering this time. On the opposite side, a doorway had been forced open. _The strength to open that…_ Vin would have used duralumin, of course, but it was still quite a feat.

_Allow no one to follow._

Given that three people had already gone down with her, this seemed like an odd instruction. And yet, necessary nonetheless. Vital, in fact.

_Kill anyone who attempts it_.

The world depended on Vin’s work down those stairs. She could not be disturbed. Marsh positioned himself in the doorway. It was, of course, highly unlikely anyone would be following. If anyone was foolish enough to try it, they would not make it through this doorway. Marsh would see to it. _This_ was his task in Kredik Shaw. _This_ was why he’d been in Luthadel. Vin _must_ succeed.

Marsh took a few deep breaths, calming himself. Kredik Shaw was silent. No one had entered before and no one would enter now. Surely not.

Except… he could hear footsteps.

Someone was hurrying through the palace. They weren’t trying to be quiet, but why would they? Kredik Shaw was supposedly deserted. It did mean they could only be coming after Vin. Marsh frowned to himself. Whoever it was, he would stop them. Kill them. It had to be done.

Yet when the person walked into the room, when they recognised Marsh, he felt his heart sink.

Why? Why did it have to be Sazed? Why couldn’t he have left Vin to complete her task?

Nevertheless. No matter Marsh’s personal feelings on the matter, no one could be allowed to follow Vin.

_Kill him._

Marsh turned to face Sazed, the only person who’d bothered to get to know him, and knew it didn’t matter. He would fight Sazed. He would kill Sazed. And he didn’t even know why.

_______________________

Consciousness returned, and with it the memory that the fight had gone badly. Perhaps he should have thought more on the difficulties of fighting a Feruchemist.

He stumbled to his feet, fumbled with and found his supply of gold. Feruchemically charged gold. He tapped into the metalmind and was able to think again.

Sazed had got past him. It had been _vital_ that Sazed did not get passed him, that no one did, that Vin go down there alone –

_Why?_

Marsh, poised to go after Sazed, stopped dead. There was no reason. He didn’t even know what was down there, for Lord Ruler’s sake. He’d been guarding it anyway. But that urge was gone. Knocked from him when he’d taken that blow from behind, perhaps?

Only that made no sense. Yet neither did the inexplicable fact that it no longer seemed to matter that Sazed had got passed him. But it had been so _important._

Important enough to nearly kill the one man who’d still treated him as human? With no reason? _No._ Marsh frowned, and started for the stairs.

And something burst through the very fabric of existence.

Power flowed through the air, exalting in victory, in freedom. It was everywhere. Everything. All around him. Thinking of ways to kill, to destroy to tear down and down until there was nothing left. It was _everywhere._ And painfully familiar.

_Those thoughts. They were never mine._

_What have I done?_

And that presence, the _power_ , with its thoughts of change, of destruction, of Ruin, slammed with full force into Marsh’s mind.


End file.
